Press Sample The folks over at Layla—you know, the company that came out with those super strong linear holographic lacquers about a year ago—are jumping on the texture and gel like shine trends!

Let's start with Gel Effect Nail Polish shall we?
Gel Effect in a super high shine nail polish that doesn't need any curing and can be removed just like any other lacquer, with nail polish remover. I've got to say that I'm really impressed by the dry-time and when I removed it there was no staining.
By the way, it comes in 11 different shades.

Now on to Velvet Effect.
Velvet Effect is Layla's addition to the flocking powder/fuzzy nail trend. It comes in 12 shades. What I like about Layla's packaging for Velvet Effect is that you can easily shake the powder onto the nail, as opposed to picking it up out of a jar and sprinkling it on. Plus it comes with a little brush to remove any excess!

If you read this far you're probably wondering where/when/if any nail art is going to come into play.
You know I'm not gonna leave you hanging so here it is!
I started with Layla Gel Effect Red & Rich as the base and drew some squiggly lines using a black nail art pen I bought from Urban Outfitters. While the lines were still wet I applied Layla Velvet Effect Sense.

Both Gel and Velvet Effect retail for $15 each on Zappos.com.


Press Sample Have you tried any texture or gel like shine manis yet? Will you?
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.

So many times I've been asked to reveal how I keep my nails long and strong. And every time I answer that question a nail breaks. Here's to throwing caution to the wind and letting it all air out.

I'll break this post up into two sections, nail blogger basics and general nail/manicure info.

Before we go any further, allow me to preface this blog entry by saying that I am not a licensed nail tech or manicurist. All opinions are my own and solely based on my own experience and does not guarantee you'll have the same results.

Now that I've got that mini disclaimer out of the way, how about we start with  nail blogger basics shall we?

As a nail blogger I spend a lot more time painting and removing nail polish than a non-blogger. Yes, I'm talking about the dreaded swatch fest! 

Swatching (n.) - The painting of nails for the purpose of photographing and removing shortly after. Mostly likely a process that is repeated multiple times within a few hours. Prime example: a swatch fest.

To keep staining and yellowing at bay, I base coat before every color no matter what. My base coats very for this process. They can be anything from my go to nail strengthener to clear nail polish from the dollar store.
If I use top coat I disclose of so on that particular post.

I've been trying to get back into more detailed nail art and techniques I haven't tried before so why not start now?



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Last week I was sitting at my desk at work trying to do a gradient sans the cosmetic wedge using just the nail polish brushes. That turned out to be an epic fail by the way. But alas greatness came from that failure! And here's how i did it! I started with one thin coat followed by one thick-ish coat of Barielle Magna Cum Laude, while still wet I stippled Straight A and High Marks from the tip to the middle of my nail.

I let it dry only to the touch while still being dentable. I then pressed the colors down and slightly pushed them around on my nails. To smooth the texture of my newly mushed nails and applied a layer of top coat.


Now for the nail art! For the diamonds I used Dare To Wear Flawless White and Wet n Wild Wild Shine Black Creme. Curious about the technique I used to paint the diamonds? See this step by step tutorial from Nailed It!


Magnum Cum Laude, Straight A, and High Marks are part of the Barielle Brilliant collection available as a 5-pack for $25 or as individual shades for $8 each on Barielle.com.

Diamonds are forever. Foreva eva, foreva eva, foreva eva!
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
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Last week the Hand Perfection Anti-Aging Kit giveway ended. And Now It is time to announce the winner!

If you want to read me overall review of the Hand Perfection Anti-Aging kit click here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats Jacquese!

The winner has been contacted and the prize has already been claimed! Thank you all so much for entering! 
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.


Press Sample

Press Sample I've been seeing reciprocal gradients all over my Tumblr and Instgram feeds so I finally decided to give one a whirl! Only I'm not quite sure it can be considered reciprocal if I use two completely different sets of colors.


I started with a base gradient of Priti NYC City Girl Rose and Priti Hedge Hog Rose. To speed up the drying process a added a layer of Dazzle Dry Top Coat. Then, I laid down some striping tape and made a gradient of Priti NYC Baby Blue Eyes and Priti NYC Scotch Thistle. After I felt the color built up to a nice opacity, I removed the tape and added an additional layer of top coat.


Press Sample

Last week you saw the first half of the L.A. Girl Sand Blasts and today I've got the rest of them!

How about we get the ball rolling with Sandy Beach eh?
Sandy Beach is a bright cobalt creme. I'm writing this post at  3 am by the way so I'm running low on fun and descriptive things to say.

Next up, Sands Of Time.
Sands Of Time is the only glitter in this collection. Yeah, gold is my favorite color, but this has got to be my absolute least favorite in this collection. It looks and feels like a chunky glitter that is a desperate need of at least two layers of top coat. I don't see myself reaching for this one again anytime soon.

Now for a nude! Sand Storm.
Sand Storm is a cool beige creme that I actually really like. Neutrals seem to be growing on me these days.

And we'll bring this to a close with Sand Dune.
In reality Sand Dune is a cool, blue based red. I'm not sure why my camera had an issue capturing such a simple color. I'll certainly upload a color accurate swatch in the next few days.
In the meantime please the group photo for the true color of Sand Dune.

These last four shades didn't take as long to dry as the shades listed in part one.

After wearing these for a day or two the texture changes from, well, sand to what feels like really dry leather.

With so many brands doing the sand-like finish, have you tried any yet? If so are they a yay or nay for you?
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.

Nothing To Disclose
Some time ago I polled you all via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google+ to see which L.A. Girl collection you would prefer to see swatches of. The choice was between 3D Effect and Sand Blast. If you take a look at the title for today's post, you'll see which collection prevailed.


How about we start things off with Quicksand shall we?
Quicksand is a blurple (a color the teeters the line between blue and purple) creme that is opaque in two coats. In true blurple fashion, depending on the lighting, Quicksand can lean more red or blue based.

Next is Sandals.
Sandals is a bright pink creme that obtains full opacity in three coats. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of pink nail polish, I really liked the way this color looked on my skin tone.

The last two polishes are shimmers. The first of the two is Green Island.
Green Island is a sea foam green shimmer that full coverage can be reached in two coats. Sadly, the shimmer doesn't really translate onto the nail. Sad face.

The final shimmer of the collection, and this post, is Glissand.
Glissand is a coral shimmer that, much like Quicksand and Green Island, becomes completely opaque in two coats. Unfortunately, the shimmer is pretty much lost on the nail.

We've got the swatches done, now let's get to the review!

What I like:
The color choice.
The smooth application.

What I Don't Like:
The dry time. Ugh! I can't express just how much I hated waiting for these to dry completely. Even after a considerable amount of time the polish was still dent-able.

How I procured them:
After seriously stalking several drug stores I couldn't find them.--In fact, I don't think I actually ever heard the official release date for these now that I think about it.--I bought them on eBay for $29.99 with free shipping.

Would I Buy More?
This collection doesn't have black or white, so I might be tempted to try those colors from another brand; provided I don't have to go on a wild hunt for them.


Nothing To Disclose Stick around for part two!
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.

There comes a time when I have to realize that my thoroughly planned manicure becomes a failure for one reason or another. And here we are with another contribution  to When Good Manis Go Bad.

A few days ago I finally sat down ready, willing. and able (so I thought) to fulfill another installment to the Art Dealer Chic series. The original idea was to take the print on Miguel's shirt and put it on my nails. I thought I couldn't go wrong. Seriously though, the print is literally a bunch of stick figures.


Let's back up so I can tell you exactly how this manicure started! I laid down a base color of Sation Lollipop! Goes The Princess. No problems there, so let's move on to the nest step.

Next, I sponged on a gradient using Sinful Colors Dream On, China Glaze Flying Dragon, and Dare To Wear Violetta.
So far, so good. I actually really loved how smooth the colors shifted into one another. By far my best gradient to date! And then came the stick people...

I painted the stick figure with my go to white nail polish Dare To Wear Flawless White. My issue wasn't with the polish. The hassle came in when I realized it had been such a long time since I did any somewhat detailed nail art and it was 3am (way past my bedtime by the way). My lines didn't come out very crisp so I scrapped the idea to cover every nail with tiny stick people, and do my thumb and one guy on my middle finger.


I guess I killed two birds with one stone. Some Art Dealer Chic nails and yet another episode of When Good Manis Go Bad.

Since this post is coming to a close, How about some product porn?
Have you ever have any idea for your nails that you just couldn't fully execute?
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.

P.S. I still have an awesome giveaway going! Enter now!

Press Sample A while back I was contacted to review Hand Perfection's Anti-Aging Hand Care kit.Wanna hear about it? Obviously you do, otherwise you wouldn't be here I presume.
 The kit consists of three pieces. A  rejuvenating night cream (left), a nail and cuticle treatment (middle), and a nourishing day cream (right).

It is advised that the products are used together for two weeks consecutively. Let's lets get started eh?

Rejuvenating Night Cream: Instruction advise to massage a pearl-size drop into the back of the hands every night.

The nourishing day cream: Instruction advise to massage a pearl-size drop into hands in the morning and throughout the day as needed.

Nail & Cuticle Treatment: Advised to massage into cuticles daily.

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Giveaway will run June 6th to June 17th 12:00am EST
You must be a GFC follower to win.
Winner must be 18 older to enter.
Open to US residents only.
Winner will have 24 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please allow one to two weeks for prize to shipped directly from Hand Perfection.

Have you tried Hand Perfection lately? Want to? Join the convo in the comments!
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.
 

Two of the Summer Collections 5 Packs (Brilliant Colors and Summer Brights) - $50
One Nail Rebuilding Protein Base Coat - $17.50
One No Chip Speed Dry Top Coat - $12.50
One Nail Strengthener Cream - $17.00
Total value of $97.00

The Grand Prize will include the fashion accessory plus the Barielle Kit. 
   

Nothing To Disclose
By no means is it a secret that I am a lover of the neon nail lacquer so today's multicolored manicure should come at no surprise.


I  started with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Next, I laid down some striping tape for the lines (boxes on my thumb) and painted those with my absolute favorite black, Wet n Wild Wild Shine Black Creme. Finally, after removing the striping tape, I splattered over it all using Essie Bouncer, It's Me, Dare To Wear Violetta, Dare To Wear Lilly Pad, Dare To wear Honeysuckle, and Dare To Wear Coral Carnation.


FYI: Essie Bouncer, It's Me is from the Essie Neon 2013 collection and all of the Dare To Wears are from the new Floral Fantasy Collection.


Nothing To Disclose