NOTD: Revlon Roulette Rush with Born Pretty Store Barbie Water Decals

I'm back again with another water decal nail art manicure. I have been loving the new Revlon Gel Envy polishes so I paired the decals up with another unused colour. For this mani I used two coats of Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel in Roulette Rush on all my nails. Revlon’s Roulette Rush is a pink toned red. Sometimes it looks for pink, and other times red, it really depends on the lighting. Like the other Gel Envy polishes I’ve reviewed, this one went on evenly and opaque in two coats, and dried extremely quick. There was no chipping for about a week.

To accent these bright pinkish nails I chose to use the Barbie themed decals from the set numbered D227. I know I am a bit old for Barbie, but these decals were so fun! I used a different decal on each nail, and although it looked cool I think it was a bit much. I'll probably just use them as accents from now on.

Here’s how to apply the water decals:

1.       Paint nails and let dry completely

2.       Cut out decal you want to use

3.       Remove protective plastic film

4.       Dunk decal into room temperature water for 10-20 seconds

5.       Apply to nail and dry

6.       Top with a top coat

Above are the instructions for application as per the decal packaging. How these instructions are worded I've been applying the decals face down like a temporary tattoo. However, this is actually the wrong way to apply. You are actually supposed to peel the decal off the backing with tweezers and place on the nails. This makes it extremely difficult to apply. I probably wont apply them this way, and it wont normally affect the look of the decals. The only time you can tell is when there are words on the decals like with these Barbie ones, the words apply backwards.

If you are interested in trying out the water decals for yourself head over to Born Pretty Store, and don’t forget to use my discount code FULW10 to get 10% off your entire purchase.

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were provided for review purposes. Thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.

NOTD: Revlon Queen of Hearts with Born Pretty Store Feather Water Decals

Although I love the look and idea of nail art, it’s not something I really have the patience or hand for. So, when Born Pretty Store asked if I wanted to try some of their nail art products I was at a loss as to what to try. They suggested the Water Decals, and I can say that it was love at first application.

For this mani I used two coats of Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel in Queen of Hearts on all my nails but the ring fingers, in which I accented with white. Revlon’s Queen of Hearts is a dark, pure blood red polish. Like the other Gel Envy polishes I’ve reviewed this one went on evenly and opaque in two coats, and dried extremely quick. There was no chipping for about a week.

On the white accent nail I decided to use a grey and black feather decal from the set numbered 1724. Let me tell you that these water decals could not be simpler to apply…they are like temporary tattoos for your nails.

Here’s how to apply the water decals:

1.       Paint nails and let dry completely

2.       Cut out decal you want to use

3.       Remove protective plastic film

4.       Dunk decal into room temperature water for 10-20 seconds

5.       Apply to nail and dry

6.       Top with a top coat

And voila! You are left with eye-catching nail art within minutes, with minimal effort and frustration. I can’t wait to rock the colourful feathers from this set on all my nails instead of just an accent.

If you are interested in trying out the water decals for yourself head over to Born Pretty Store, and don’t forget to use my discount code FULW10 to get 10% off your entire purchase.

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were provided for review purposes. Thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own. 

NOTD: Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel in 030 Beginner's Luck

I’m back with another Revlon Gel Envy polish for today’s nail of the day. This time I’m sporting 030 Beginner’s Luck.

As previously stated, Revlon’s New Colorstay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel is not actually a gel polish. When used with the Diamond Top Coat these polishes claim to offer the shine and longevity of a gel manicure without the extra costs and curing time.

For this manicure I used a normal base coat, 2 coats of Beginner’s Luck and a regular top coat. Beginner’s Luck is a light, milky, shimmery pink that would look good on any skin tone. This polish was semi opaque with two coats. You could still see the tips of my nails but I kind of liked the look. This would be perfect for a French Manicure. I got a full week of wear with no chipping or tip wear.

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were provided for review purposes. Thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.

NOTD: Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel in 120 Hot Hand

Revlon's New ColorStay Gel Envy Longwear Nail Enamel is not actually a gel polish. It offers the shine and longevity of a gel manicure without the extra costs and time required for a gel manicure. I have to say that I was intrigued about these polishes when I first heard of them. A polish that will last more than a week and keep its shine would allow me to get away with being lazy and painting my nails less.

I don't believe I used these polishes as intended, so I'm not sure how accurate this review is going to be. Although these polishes have the base coat built in I still used one to make sure I got no staining. I used two coats of nail polish and then my normal top coat. I'm believe  the effect and longevity of the polish would have been more accurate had I used the Diamond Top Coat. However, I was very happy with the results.

The first coat of Hot Hand applied almost opaque. The second coat provided complete coverage and dried to an even, smooth and glossy finish. For glossiness you don't really need a topcoat, but I used one to help with length of wear. Hot Hand is a classic Barbie Pink creme polish. It makes a great finger or toenail polish.

I got a full week of wear with no chipping or tip wear. The shine lasted the whole week as well. I'm sure I could have gotten more time out of the manicure, but my nails were growing out, and I was ready for a new colour.

Overall, this polish apples like a dream and lasts longer than any other Revlon polish I've worn. I get the gel look without the UV curing, crazy costs, or soak off removal. I really think Revlon has got a winner with this line.

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were provided for review purposes. Thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.

NOTD: Impress Press On Manicure in Shout

Revolutionary nail technology with no drying time, superior lasting shine, and easy removal. 24 nail covers in 12 sizes. 

How To Apply
1. Find the correct size for each nail
2. Lay out 10 nails in finger order
3. Cleanse natural nails with enclosed prep pad
4. For best adhesion, firmly apply nails, thumb nails last. 

How To Remove
1. Gently peel off from sides, or apply polish remover around edges, wait 1 minute, peel off. 

I chose Shout for my vacation because I felt like the tropical flower design was appropriate for my Florida trip. I have used these nails before, so I knew that I would get a whole week of wear out of them. I know a lot of girls have a hard time wearing these nails because of the shape of their nails, but these fit my nails like a glove. Because they fit so well I can get two complete manicures out of each package.

Shout, as previously stated, is a tropical flower design with pink, yellow, and black detailing. There is also a layer of blue iridescent glitter overlaying the yellow and black portions of the flowers. I received so many compliments on these while on vacation. No one could believe that they were press on nails. I like that they look so realistic on me and not overly fake.

When applying these nails I spend 30 seconds per nail pressing them down to make sure the adhesive sticks. I also make sure not to get them wet for a few hours following application. After that few hours though, I go about life as normal. These nails lasted just over a week for me before I got bored of them. I used copious amounts of hand sanitizer, went swimming, showered, washed dishes, etc. and I had no weakening of the adhesive or lost any nails.

The only thing I don’t like about these nails is that there is a plastic tab at the tip of each nail that, I believe, needs to be filed off. I don’t mind filing them though because I have to do that anyway to get my desired length. However, when you do file the tips it promotes peeling of the design sooner. By about day 3 I had peeling and very noticeable tip wear. The tip wear is ultra noticeable with these nails because the base is white.

Overall these nails provide me with the acrylic nail look at a fraction of the price. They also do not damage my nails like acrylics do.

Nail Care with Trim Salon Boards, & NailHQ Ridge Filler and Base Coat

Although I don’t grow out my nails, I prefer the short look; I do still need to take care of them. As my nails grow they get very thin and brittle, and I always have issues with splitting and peeling. It’s because of this peeling that I need to keep them short. I also need to file down the uneven parts so that I have a smooth even base to work with, because nothing looks worse than uneven polish.


In this post I am going to talk about some of my favourite products to get my nails ready for painting.

NOTD: Rainbow Honey Midnight Fountain

I am so in love with today's nail polish. I have been a huge fan of Rainbow Honey polishes since I received one in my first Wantable box last year. I got this one in my April Ipsy Bag, and couldn't wait to try it out. I already know that I will be repurchasing this polish, as well as, many more from the brand.

"The central meeting place of our proverbial garden, Midnight Fountain brings it all together - full of shimmer, color, and glitter, this color stands out on its own and also pairs up well with the glitters and cremes in the Midnight Garden Collection. Wear alone in 2-3 coats with top coat or wear 1 coat over Charaxes. Try 1 coat over Nyx for a punch of duochrome shimmer!" 

Midnight Fountain is a bright blue jelly polish with tons of holographic glitter, and duochrome shimmer. This polish is so eye-catching. I got compliments all over town regarding it. It is just pure perfection in a bottle. The jelly base is opaque enough that you can get away with 2 coats. The glitter and shimmer suspends ideally, so that the depth of this polish looks endless. 

There really isn't anything that Rainbow Honey could have done to improve this polish. There is no clumping, no streaking, and it dried extremely quick. It lasted about 4 days before I noticed some minor chipping.

I just cant get enough of this colour. I couldn't stop looking at my nails while I wore this. I'm sure people thought I was weird just staring at my nails! But every time the light hit it, I couldn't help but stop and stare. This polish really helped cement my love for blue nails!   

NOTD: New Year's Kiss

I LOVE GLITTER! I like it on my nails as an accent nail, as an overlay, or as a complete glitter-bomb manicure. So when I first laid my eyes on New Year's Eve from the Wet n Wild Fergie Center Stage Collection I knew it was for me!

New Year's Eve is a clear base filled with dense silver glitter, and small holographic and turquoise bar glitter. The glitter goes on fairly sparse, so for me it only really works as an overlay. I tried to see how many coats it would take to get an opaque nail, but I stopped after 4.  As you can see, in the above picture, when the light hits the holo bars they flash an assortment of beautiful colours.

I am not normally a fan of the bar glitter look, but I am loving this polish. The holo glitter just adds something special and makes it really eye-catching. The only downside to this polish is that it is hard to fish the bar glitter out of the bottle. And, because there is more base than glitter, it's hard to keep the glitter on the brush because it just wants to run off.

Overall, this polish impressed me, and made me want to not only check out more Wet n Wild glitter polishes, but also some more from the Fergie Collection.

Disclaimer: Product(s) in this post were provided for review purposes. Reviews are honest and my own.

NOTD: NOPI On What Grounds?

"Say hello to our newest innovation yet – Roughles (pronounced “Ruffles”) nail lacquer! These four flirty hues are perfect for spring, but they aren’t just any pastel polishes!  Roughles go on like regular nail lacquer, but dry to a speckled, textured finish–no top coat needed!"

Now, I am not normally one for textured polishes, but when this turquoise beauty came in my March Ipsy bag I couldn't wait to try it out! I painted my nails right away and was blown away by how much I liked this polish. It went on effortlessly, and dried super quick. The bright turquoise base is littered with darker turquoise flecks that really make this polish stand out. It reminds me of chocolate Mini Eggs.

I did two coats in these pictures, but you could get away with one. No top coat is needed with this polish in order for it to keep its textured finish. Lasting time was pretty disappointing though. On day two of wear it started chipping off in huge chunks. Removal was also a pain, I found it was easiest to just continue chipping it off my nails.

I am hoping to pick up the purple from this collection as well.

Review: Eat Sleep Polish "April Showers Bring May Flowers" Collection

I am so excited about today's review! I am a huge nail polish junkie, and I recently got the chance to try and review my first Indie Polishes thanks the Eat Sleep Polish. ESP is a Canadian Indie line that is all 3-free. They contain no Dibutyl Phthalate, Toluene, and Formaldehyde. All polishes are 100% Cruelty Free and Vegan.

The April Showers Bring May Flowers collection is not your typical "Spring" collection. In Ontario, where these polishes are made, March through April is still full of snow, rain & storms. It is with that inspiration that this collection was born.

I was so intrigued when I heard about this collection, because during this time of the year I am not really feeling the bright, classic Spring colours. This collection totally reminds me of the weather outside right now and it was so fun to try them all out on my nails. There were some clear winners for me in this collection, and some colours that weren't really for me. Overall, the quality of these polishes are comparable to brand name polishes, and I would recommend them and purchase more in the future.

Endless Sky

"A shimmery blue with a delicate violet undertone and a splash of scattered holo,  2-3 coats recommended. What would an ending winter be without a beautiful blue cloud free sky? This polish helps us to embrace the days to come where the sky is pure and endless."

This is my favourite of the collection. This sky blue literally glows on my nails. It is so eye catching and I received many compliments while wearing it. I dint find that the holo is very prevalent, but I think that it is what makes this polish look like it has so much depth and life. I used two coats for full opacity. I can see myself using this polish a lot this Spring.

Grasshoppa

"A light and airy green jelly filled with micro flakes, shimmer, pink & white glitter of various shapes and sizes. This is semi-sheer but can be layered, or worn over a base in a similar colour. Topcoat recommended to achieve a smooth finish. The inspiration behind this polish is itty bitty baby grasshoppers that start showing up in the fresh baby grass."

Although I really like the look of this polish in pictures, I really don't like how it looks on my nails. I have no problems with the formula or the colour combination, the shade of green just doesn't look good with my skin tone. 2 coats gave almost full opacity. I cant see myself grabbing for this one very often.

Perfect Storm

"A shimmery olive toned polish with a splash of scattered holo as well. 2-3 coats recommended. Spring is not spring without storms, and as the saying goes April Showers, Bring May Flowers. This polish represents the calmness and serenity that even a storm can bring."

This polish shifts from olive, to a champagne colour depending on the light. It applied the best of all the polishes, and was opaque in 2 coats. I found that this green looked better with my skin tone. I'm going to try some stamping with this polish in the future. The only downside I found with this polish is that it was difficult to remove.

Sidewalk Strider

"A funky cement looking polish. 2-3 coats recommended. This grey based polish is jam packed with black, white, pink & glitter and scattered with tiny blue sparkles. A delicate amount of holographic particles make this a unique and fun polish to wear. The inspiration behind this polish is going for walks in the early days of spring, where bits and pieces of winter ‘junk’ can be seen hiding in the melting snow."

This is my second favourite polish in this collection. It is just so fun to look at, both in the bottle and on the nails. I don't know how much it reminds me of cement, to me I always think of cookies and cream chocolate bars when I look at it. 2 coats is not fully opaque, next time I will use three coats. Removal is a bit difficult due to all the glitter, however, it's totally worth it.

Raspberry Mud Pie

"A cocoa coloured polish filled within beautiful raspberry shimmer, that truly glows from within. 2-3 coats recommended. Lets face it spring is muddy. However with soil and dirt come plants & flowers. There is always good to be found if you look hard enough!"

This polish was so frustrating to photograph! The holo glitter made my camera freak out! This polish does glow, and the glitter adds great depth, but I'm not in love with the base colour. I've never been a fan of brown polishes, and I think it looks weird on my nails. It's not an ugly colour, just not for me. 2 coats gave me full opacity.

Which polish from this collection is your favourite?

Disclaimer: These polishes were sent to me for review purposes. All opinions are 100% honest and my own.

NOTD: L'Oreal Paris Lilac Coolers

When I picked up L'Oreal Lilac Coolers I was expecting a milky lilac cream that would be perfect for Spring. Much to my surprise upon swatching was to find that this polish is extremely sheer, and actually quite jelly in consistency and finish. Some research showed me that this polish was part of the Summer 2013 Miss Candy Collection, which consisted of 8 jelly polishes. 

This polish went on easily, with no streaking. These pictures are showing three coats. Because of the super sheer formula, you can still see the whites of my nails, which isn't a look I like. I prefer for my polishes to be opaque. Another aspect that I didn't like about this polish is that it bubbled. On quite a few of my nails I had tiny air bubbles dry in the polish.

I may try using this polish for a jelly sandwich manicure, or a gradient manicure in the future. Other than those options though, I cant see myself grabbing for this polish on a regular basis.

NOTD: Glitter in the Fog

Today's nail of the day includes Joe Fresh's Fog which I reviewed a few weeks ago. You can read that review here. While wearing Fog my Mom bought me some mini polishes from Pennington's and I couldn't wait to try Purple Glitter.

Pennington's Purple Glitter is a glitter packed topcoat. It consists of a clear base, with tiny circular gold glitter, and small hexagonal rose gold and lilac glitter. One coat of polish deposits more than enough glitter onto each nail. There is only one coat on my nails in these pictures.

Things I like about this glitter polish that I don't about others are:

1. There is no texture. The glitter lies flat on the nail.
2. I don't have to fish around for the glitter and place it where I want it. The brush deposit's the perfect amount. And,
3. It is a dream to remove. I normally have a love/hate relationship with glitter because the removal process is a pain. This polish came off like any other cream polish, easy peasy.

I have yet to try the other polishes that came in the kit, a duochrome and cream finish, but I cant wait. If they are half as impressive as this glitter, I will be venturing to Pennington's in the future to pick up some more.

 

NOTD: Joe Fresh Fog

The shade grey holds a special place in my heart. It is actually my favourite shade, whereas, purple is my favourite colour. Grey goes with everything, that's why it is the best colour to buy your staple fashion choices in, and it is a must have for every nail polish collection. So, as soon as I saw Fog sitting on the shelf at Zehrs I knew I needed it. Yes, I have other grey polishes, but Fog is unlike anything I own.

Why, do you ask? Because this grey polish has a beautiful blue undertone that I find pairs well with my skintone. I find that in some lights this polish looks more blue than grey, but no matter the light it is so pretty in person.

Like other Joe Fresh polishes, Fog is opaque in 2 coats, applies streak free, is fast drying, and long lasting. Also the gloss on this polish is out of this world. I am wearing a top coat in these pictures, however, you don't need one for shine. It was hard to take pictures because I couldn't get a shot where you don't see my reflection. Fog is a staple in my collection, and I highly recommend that you make it a part of yours.

NOTD: Joe Fresh Copper

My wallet stood no chance against the 2013 Fall/Winter Joe Fresh nail polish line! I was drawn to every polish in the line, and had to use all of my resolve not to buy them all. Copper is a duo-chrome polish that shifts from gold to green, with the occasional blue flash along the edges. Although, the shift is difficult to capture on camera, in person this polish is absolutely stunning, and I received many compliments while wearing it.

Some dupes for this polish are the Revlon Chroma Chameleon polish in Gold and Chanel's Peridot. Having looked at swatches online though, you would not be able to tell the difference between these polishes, so save some money and pick up the Joe Fresh, it's only $4.

This polish was opaque with 2 coats, but I think that 3 would give the best colour and duo-chrome payoff. I found it to be a bit streaky, as you will see in the pictures; I have a bald spot on my ring finger where the second coat pulled the first coat away.

Overall, this polish, like all Joe Fresh polishes was easy to work with, fast drying, and long lasting. With a base and top coat this manicure lasted me about a week before I got any chipping, and I only had minimal tip wear.