Color Club Electro Candy Swatches

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post.  So much has been going on in my life, and I just haven't felt up to blogging.  Hopefully I can tell you all about it sometime, but for right now I'm unable to post about it.

So let's get on with the swatches!  These were taken way back in February before I stopped blogging, but I can't remember having any application issues with any of them, and I believe most were two coats.  I know this collection is from long ago, but I wanted it so badly and was so excited when I finally got them!

Color Club - Volt of Light

Color Club - Tangerine Scream

Color Club - Electro Candy

Color Club - Ultra Violet

Color Club - Pure Energy

Color Club - What a Shock!

Overall, I loved this collection.  Color Club does neons quite often, but this collection was unique because of the shimmer!

Do you like neons?  Do they go well with your skintone and make your hands look tan, or ghostly?

Some fun Valentine's Day colors from Del Sol

Let me start by saying that I'm a BIG fan of Del Sol polishes, and it's probably because there is SO much sun in Arizona. Since many of the polishes change to a pink, red, or maroon in the sun, they make great Valentine's Day colors.

The first one up is Heartbreaker. It's a pretty red glitter indoors - more cool, berry-toned than China Glaze Ruby Pumps (which I actually do not own... can you believe it?! Probably 500+ polishes and I don't even have this cult favorite). In the sun, the color really deepens to a dark berry maroon or burgundy. I would almost call it a dark red grape, but it's not QUITE that purple. Either way it's stunning!

Del Sol - Heartbreaker (shade)

Del Sol - Heartbreaker (sun)

The next one is called Girls Night Out. It starts out as a rosy bright pink with gold shimmer. In the sun it gets very purple, but keeps the gold shimmer.

Del Sol - Girls Night Out (shade)

Del Sol - Girls Night Out (sun)

Next is Pretty in Pink. Indoors it's a white base with HEAVY pink flash. The pink flash really dominates this one, and makes it appear like a pearly cool-toned baby pink. This is three coats, and there is still VNL, but I don't really mind it. Outside it all turns to a soft mid-toned pink. VERY girly!

Del Sol - Pretty in Pink (shade)

Del Sol - Pretty in Pink (sun)

Last but not least, is Secret Crush. It's not really a traditional Valentine's Day polish, but it's my favorite Del Sol polish, so I had to include it. It's such a pretty soft orange coral with a strong blue pearl to it (yes, up close and in the pictures you can see brushstrokes, but I assure you they are not at all noticeable in person - doing three thin coats instead of two thick coats keeps the brushstrokes at bay). Then outside... WOW. It changes to a dusty purple base with that same electric blue pearl, and it's absolutely amazing. I love how much the color changes in this one, and I just adore both "versions" (inside and outside).

Del Sol - Secret Crush (shade)

Del Sol - Secret Crush (sun)

Like I said, I just LOVE Del Sol polishes, but I do have one thing to say about them...

I've heard rumors of "bottles that didn't change color much." I think that this is actually due to the sun available, not the formulation itself. In Arizona, these are wonderful - they change almost instantly and very drastically. However, if you live in a place that's mostly cloudy, you may see little to no change whatsoever. Another thing to note is that if you use any sort of sunscreen (even putting moisturizer with SPF 15 in it on your face using your fingers), there will be NO color change at all. The polishes rely on the UV rays from the sun to change the color, so be sure to try them on days with a high UV index for maximum change.

Also, what do you think of the new larger picture size?

CoverGirl Midnight Forest - Chanel Black Pearl dupe?

I decided to check out my local Dollar Tree yesterday, and happened to find some cool Cover Girl Nail Slicks duos for $1 each. One of them contained this beauty, which I think looks an AWFUL lot like Chanel Black Pearl.

Cover Girl - Midnight Forest

I don't like spending $25 on polishes (I only made one exception for Paradoxal because I found it unique and beautiful enough to justify the price), so I don't have Black Pearl to compare it to. I was using Michelle's photo here on All Lacquered Up for comparison purposes, and I think they are very close!

Another thing to note is that this is NOT big 3 free. It contains Dibutyl Phthalate.

Most Underrated Polish from Anchors Away: Knotty

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought Knotty might be a suitable match for my skin. In fact, this polish is the most perfect nude polish I've found yet. It's got that glass-fleck sparkle (which is fine by me... the more sparkly the better!) and more yellow/tan tone that most of the nude polishes out there. Just look at how BEAUTIFUL this is!  This is two coats and it's still a tiny bit sheer, but I actually like it that way.

China Glaze - Knotty

In my opinion, this is one of the most underrated polishes from the latest China Glaze collection, Anchors Away. It is my favorite just because it matches my skin so perfectly. Although somehow my camera managed to find a slight color difference, I assure you that in person it's a perfect match.  I know this probably won't work on those with pinker, cooler tones in their skin, but if you have more olive tones, you should give this one a shot!  It's quite sparkly in the sun, but it has a nice clean pearly appearance in lower lighting.

On a side note, how do you like my new blog colors? I thought black and grey were a bit boring (although I liked the neutrality contrasting with the colorful polishes) so I tried green and gold. What do you think? Should I keep it or change it back?

SOPI Metro Chic and Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy

I saw a girl the other day wearing Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, and it made me want to wear it again, so here it is (2 coats):

Sephora by OPI - Metro Chic

I had recently picked up Gray's Anatomy from the new Wet N Wild FastDry line, and tried it quickly over my old Chanel Paradoxal manicure. It looked really cool because Paradoxal resembled the base color in Gray's Anatomy, but because Gray's is a bit sheer, Paradoxal really deepened it.

So I decided I'd try Gray's over Metro Chic, since it matched the base color even more closely. In my opinion, it's not as beautiful as it was with Paradoxal, but it's still very amazing! (And it's a $1.99 dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Wicked Games!)

Wet N Wild Gray's Anatomy (over SOPI Metro Chic)

That last couple pictures really show the green side of the polish, which is most visible at extreme angles to the light source, though as you can see both the green and purple can be seen together in many views. It's a more subtle duochrome, but still very striking. I recommend layering it over a darker color like Zoya Kelly or Sally Hansen Gray Area.

Incoco Design Strips Swatch and Review

Incoco recently sent me a couple of their new Design strips for me to try out, and let me tell you, I love them! These didn't come with a name, so I'm not sure what they will be called when they are officially released.

(shade)

(sun)

This appears to be similar to their Bling Bling strips, but with a multi-colored top coat that has yellow, pink, and sky blue stripes. To me it looks very springy and Easter-y! I don't think they seem too over-the-top sparkly (but then again, I LOVE glitter polishes and anything super sparkly). I really like how every nail is different - it's not just the exact same design on each nail.

I have worn Incoco quite a few times now (see my Head Over Heels review here), and from my experience, the glitter strips last FOREVER (well 11 days in my case, when I decided I wanted to do a different color... but they were still in near perfect shape then!). I'll let you know when I take these off and comment on the wear then.

I'm thoroughly in love with Incoco, and can't wait until their Design line is officially released on their website. Though cost is kind of high, I'm looking forward to seeing some unique designs that aren't easy to replicate with stamping (Konad).

Have you tried Incoco? Are you excited about their new Design line?

Viva La Nails Water Decals and Stickers Review

Awhile back I ordered the Sample Pack from Viva La Nails. It's free for any blogger or youTube artist to review - all you pay is shipping! And let me tell you, I'm impressed!

First up are some of their colored water decals. These are very elegant pink flowers, with green leavs and stems. I was originally going to try these over an ivory or white, but when I tried Zoya Posh on the other day, they matched too perfectly to NOT try them on! Plus these were super easy - just cut out the design, wet the back paper with a sponge and slide the design off and stick it onto the nail!


Next up are some of their black water decals. On these, any part that is not black is clear, so you can put them over any color and it will show through. I've been wanting to do a "red with black roses" mani for a while, and these were perfect for it! See how clear the designs are? I know you could probably do something like this with Konad, but I'm not very good at the stamping stuff yet, so I like this better. This was over Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby (which is an almsot neon red).


Lastly were some of the rhinestone stickers they sent me. I love the look of the black with white flowers with the little colored accents! However, I didn't wait long enough for the polish to completely dry (even with SV, it was still "squishy") so the stickers ended up pulling on the polish underneath and it ended up pretty bumpy. It still looked awesome, though! Just make sure to let your polish dry COMPELTELY before pressing on the stickers.


I didn't wear any of these for an extended period of time, so I can't really comment on the wear of these, but I can imagine the water decals would easily stay on just as long as a nail polish would. I think I'm definitely going to order more of these!

Have you tried using stickers or water decals on your nails? How do they wear? Have you ordered from Viva La Nails?

Bank of America - Warning!

I know this post is no fun, but I really want to get this out there. This is MY story, and I'm posting it here in the hope that you an help me send this warning along.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH BANK OF AMERICA!

I'm not sure if this is a recent trend in Bank of America's business, but recently my checking account was CLOSED unexpectedly by B of A. I received a letter on Dec 20 stating that my account would be restricted in 20 days and closed in 30 days, at which point I would be sent a check for the remaining balance.

While it is LEGAL for the B of A to close any accounts at any time, they are not required to give any reason for doing so. This is the number they gave me to contact: 1-980-386-8908. Though it says business hours are 8-5 EST, I have tried multiple times with no success. Each time I get a recording that states the closure is a "business decision" and that it is B of A's policy to NOT disclose any reasons for closure.

Although I have no proof to give all of you, I DO have all of my account records available online, evidence that I have never written a bad check and that the account has NEVER reached a zero or negative balance. I have checked my credit score for any possible issues, but have found nothing to hint as to what may have happened with B of A. There is no logical reason for the closure of my checking account.

(**On a side note, B of A left my savings account open - I suppose they couldn't afford to lose a LARGE sum of money, while they are less concerned about losing a few thousand dollars. I moved the savings to a different bank anyway.)

Today, I went into the bank to withdraw all the funds (it is currently in the "restricted" status), and none of the tellers or bankers were able to get any more info on the reason for closure and they were unable to give me ANY of the money in the account! They, too, were directed to the "Account Closures Department" at the number listed above and were unable to reach anybody.

As of now, I have NO ACCESS TO MY MONEY IN MY BANK OF AMERICA ACCOUNT.

Please, please don't let this happen to you and your friends and family! Please pass along this warning to all who do business with B of A. I may just be one customer of the thousands they serve loyally, but the way they have treated me is unacceptable and I do not wish it on anyone else in the world!

Black Lace and Cafe Au Lait

First of all... I hit 100 followers last night!!! Thank you all SO much for encouraging me with your wonderful comments! Just to let you know, I read every single one (even on old posts).

Anywho...
I got this idea from Deniz's pseudo lace nails (who in turn got it from Beautopia's idea here). Unfortunately, I don't have Konad plate m71, so I had to make do with a rose design from plate m65. The lace net is from plate m57 and I used Wet'n'Wild Black Creme for the stamping.



I actually like how it turned out with the roses, but I just don't know how those girls got their lace to look so PERFECT!

I love the look of black lace manicures, but I'm not sure which "version" I like the most. The Sally Hansen Salon Effects one looked nearly perfect, except for that the base color was way too pale for my skin. It would have lasted for week and a half most likely, but I don't usually wear one mani for that long anyway. I've never tried a "real lace" manicure, but I have a feeling I wouldn't have much patience for the texture and lifting of the lace edges. I think this one may be my favorite because you can customize the lace to look how you want it - you could put any Konad flowers you want over the lace net or maybe do some lacy french tips.




The base I used was Cafe Au Lait from the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line. I think this is the closest polish to my skin color that I own, but it's still not perfect. It's a tad too peachy-pink on me. Although it doesn't show in the pictures, it matches the pads of my fingers, but the rest of my hand looks a bit more yellow-brownish (in a not so yucky-color way than it sounds). I have a feeling it would match perfectly to someone whose skin had a tad more pink in it. I just saw a swatch of Knotty from China Glaze Anchor's Away that makes me think it might be a wonderful nude color for me during the summer when I'm slightly tanned.

What is your favorite nude color? Do you have one that perfectly matches your skin? Have you ever tried real lace for a manicure?

Funky Half Moon

I came up with this idea just this morning and figured I'd wait to try it until the China Glaze Anchor's Away collection came out (for the navy and the red). As you can see, I didn't make it that long before trying it out.


I used Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On for the base (plus a coat of SV), then used Liquid Palisade to form the half moons and just painted over with RBL Dead Calm (navy), and OPI Monsooner of Later (red... I know it looks orange here, but it is a bright orange-red in person). One note about Liquid Palisade. It's pretty awesome, but make sure you give yourself an extra "tail" with which to pull it off once you've painted over it, and probably pull it off with tweezers (I didn't do either and got blue and red all over my other hand's fingers...). After I let it dry just a bit, I dotted White On in little dots (freehand with a dotting tool).

I like this one, but it takes awhile and I don't think I have the patience to complete the design on my other hand as well. I think it looks sort of nautical, or like a polka-dotted dress.

What does this design remind you of? Have you tried/do you like the half-moon manicures?