Let's Talk About Gwen Stefani

So, one thing I'm a fan of, that I don't talk much about, is No Doubt.

Loved them since Tragic Kingdom came out (I was 13!). After listening to that album to death, my cousin and I had to find their other albums that were available at the time (No Doubt, and Beacon Street Collection), and I've picked up every album since - including Gwen's two solo albums (

When I saw in the Sally Beauty flyer that Gwen Stefani teamed up with OPI to put out a line of polishes, I knew I needed to at least check it out. I went to a different local beauty supply store - one that actually supplies for salons, so the prices are MUCH better. I grabbed two bottles.

I painted all my nails with two coats of 4 In The Morning (a song from Gwen's second solo album, The Sweet Escape). It's a beautiful satin-finish black with a hint of shimmer to it. Satin finish isn't quite matte, and it's not a gloss. Unfortunately, you can't really use a topcoat with it, so I had some tip-wear within a few hours (cooking dinner and all that), but it didn't get too much worse over the next few days.

On my ring finger, I applied a coat of Lay Down That Base (missed opportunity to use "Underneath It All"?) - a special baecoat included with the next polish. I left an outline of the black.

After Lay Down That Base was dry, I applied two coats of Push & Shove (from No Doubt's latest album of the same name).
This is a special polish - it's an ultra shiny chrome silver. Back in the day, Sally Hansen released a line of chrome polishes. This is that but both better and worse.
The finish on it is amazing, super shiny and smooth. It does show every imperfection in your nail, and apparently, it doesn't work over other types of basecoats - maybe use a ridge-filler and then Lay Down That Base?
Anyways, it's also worse than Sally Hansen's old line, in that it's advertised as one-day wear. You aren't supposed to use a topcoat on it. Other bloggers seem to have had good luck with applying a topcoat, so next time I use this polish, I'm going to give it a shot.

The other shades are:
Love.Angel.Music.Baby - a satin finish gold
I Sing In Color - a dark oxblood shade
Hey Baby - a hot pink
In True Stefani Fashion - holo glitter. This one has square glitter!
Over And Over a Gwen - classic red - this one only comes in a box-set with nail studs and gems.

There is a mini box-set that includes Love.Angel.Music.Baby, I Sing In Color, Hey Baby, and 4 In The Morning - I may pick this up, but I kind of want the full size bottles. I just can't justify buying anything other than the satin finish gold, because I have something like all the other shades already.

Triforce

A friend gave me a bottle of polish in a present. It was L'Oreal The Temptress Touch

This is a gorgeous spring green with a bright gold almost duochrome effect.
After I applied it (3 coats, it's pretty sheer), I thought it needed something, so I went through my gem wheel, applied some studs and painted over them with Revlon Vincent Van Gold.

I thought it worked - especially while playing Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

I got a lot of compliments on this one from gamers and non-gamers alike.

For Audrey / Pop Rocker

My sister bought me Hard Candy's Pop Rocker for Christmas - it's like Black Tie Optional (which she also grabbed for me), but with the addition of pink bar glitter.

I figured I needed to use Pop Rocker, so I needed to find a good base colour.

I went with China Glaze For Audrey - their ever popular perfect Tiffany blue. Two coats to get a nice even base. I finally picked up this polish using a Sally Beauty gift card I also got for Christmas. It's so pretty.

Topped it off with one coat of Pop Rocker - you have to dig a bit to get the larger sized glitter chunks, but, like the other Hard Candy glitters, you get awesome coverage without really trying.

With the Pro FX Epoxy Bond base coat and Quick Dry top coat, this manicure lasted over a week before I even started to notice tip-wear.

Revlon Selects and Christmas

Revlon Selects sent me some of their Revlon by Marchesa 3D Jewel Appliques, and I saved them for my company Christmas party.

I used Gilded Mosaic - a very pretty gold and silver mosaic pattern.

Last time I tried the appliques, they only lasted a day before peeling up, and I kinda got frustrated with them. I had used a basecoat, which I think was part of the problem. 

This time I followed a how-to blog post from someone else (I forgot to save the link, and now I can't find it), and didn't use a basecoat.

The how-to said to use a "feather touch" when filing off the excess sticker, and ... yeah, these are so thick that you need a little pressure. I was still being gentle though. Some of the ends were still ragged - though I think that's a product of the design on these ones and my nail length - some of the jewels popped off at the ends of my nails.

I touched up the ends and wrapped the tips with some gold polish, and because the ragged edges were still bugging me, I went over it with a topcoat (it had to last a couple of days, because I was working the day of the party).

On my ring finger, I used Avon Matte Concrete, Essence Black is Back and Bundle Monster stamping plate 323 to create a nail that matched my party dress.

Now, the nail sitckers actually lasted several days this time before the design started to wear off, revealing the white base. 

I followed the directions, and peeled them up from the cuticle edge. Every finger except my thumbs (both hands), went well.

Here is what happened on my thumbs:

It peeled off a layer of my nail in some places - this was the better of the two. My other thumb had much larger sections peel off.

So, next time - basecoat for SURE.

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After letting my nails rest for a few days, I decided that I needed to do something Christmas-y

I used Color Club Red De Rio, then applied Claire's Cranberry scented polish from last year's scented holiday collection (it didn't really smell ... I think it's faded now). It's a fine red glitter with slightly larger gold glitter strewn throughout.

On my ring finger, I used a tutorial from Nailside to make a Christmas tree. I used China Glaze Winter Holly for the tree, and applied a gem to the top.

Winter Holly is a fun colour - packed with fine dark green glitter, and I think I spotted some gold and silver in there too.

My only complaint is the base of the glitter somehow caused the red to soak through my basecoat and stain my nail.

Revlon Selects - Revlon Parfumerie

I actually received a couple of Revlon Selects packages in the last couple of months.
First one was some more of their 3D nail strips. I got two designs. I gave one to a friend to try (I don't believe she's used strips before, so I wanted her take on them), and I kept one for myself to use for my company Christmas party - that's next weekend, so I'll have a review up hopefully next Monday.

The second box had a single polish in it - from their new Parfumerie line.

The bottles are super cute, rectangular with beveled edges, and the lid is small and round - it looks reminiscent of a simple perfume bottle. Obviously what they were going for, and it worked.
The smaller lid was actually pretty easy to work with. It's about the same height as a mini polish lid, but the shape makes it easier to hold than a traditionally shaped lid on a mini bottle.

The scent/shade I received is "Spun Sugar" - a metallic off-silver, almost pewter shade.

This is two coats - I decided to fancy it up by adding a jewel to each nail (pale blue, round; from the Claire's gem wheel). I thought it would give it a bit of a wintery feel.

First coat wasn't quite opaque, but second coat evened it out. You can just barely see some brushstrokes; and I find that's pretty typical of these frosty metallics, so no complaints there

The scent is creamy and sweet. I don't really know how else to describe it.
I just applied it, so we'll see how long the scent lasts :)
While it was drying, the smell reminded me of a new magazine with an unopened perfume sample - weird, but that's where my brain went. Once it fully dries, the sugary scent really comes out.
I did find the scent to be a little on the strong side at first, but my nose has been very sensitive to perfumes lately. I don't know if I'm just used to it now or what, but it has mellowed out to where I can only really smell it if my fingers are about two inches from my nose.

I DID use a topcoat, and the polish passed the test. Once the topcoat was dry, the scent came back, just as strong as before.

The box also contained a brochure with two scent samples
- Autumn Spice:  looks like a beautiful coppery brown shimmery bottle of goodness, and it smells like pumpkin spice, which, well, I am obsessed with.
- Surf Spray: looks like a (metallic?) teal-blue, smell is very typical of "water" scented perfumese (if that makes sense). I don't really know how else to describe it.
There were 16 shades at the time of release, and it looks like there are more now.

If I don't get any of these for Christmas, I will be buying Autumn Spice, and another one I saw in stores called Italian Leather.

Emerald Eve

I wanted to do something with a glittery feature nail, so I went looking at my glitter polishes, and saw one I hadn't used yet. I paired it with a complimentary shade for the rest of my nails.

I started with two coats of OPI Cuckoo For This Color - this was a gift from a friend with great taste - haha! It is a shimmery dark teal. I guess you could describe it as an emerald green with a hint of blue. I don't even know what to say other than that; it's just really pretty.

On my ring finger, I applied a coat of Hard Candy Emerald Eve. Hard Candy polishes always surprise me - they are with glitter. This polish has tiny round emerald green glitter and larger round holographic gold glitter. I applied a thick-ish coat, and then remembered something else about Hard Candy polishes ... they dry fast!

I applied two coats of topcoat to the glittery nail just to help smooth out the texture.

The Day of The Doctor

I've already established that I am a Doctor Who fan, so I have definitely been looking forward to today - the 50th anniversary of the show.

I figured I should do a manicure that would be appropriate for today.

I think I am most proud of my ring finger - it turned out pretty much exactly how I wanted.

The TARDIS on my thumb:

• China Glaze First Mate - for the base
• It's So Easy Stripe Rite Blue Metallic - for detailing
• It's So Easy Stripe Rite Black - for detailing
• Claire's White striping polish - for detailing
• Sinful Colors Snow Me White - for the windows and the door sign

The 10th Doctor on my index finger:

• Revlon Chocolate Truffle - for the jacket
• It's So Easy Stripe Rite Blue Metallic - for the pinstripes
• It's So Easy Stripe Rite Black - for detailing
• Claire's White striping Polish - for the shirt
• Chine Glaze First Mate - for the tie

The 11th Doctor on my middle finger:

• Icing Skinny Dipping Beauty - for the jacket
• It's So Easy Stripe Rite Black - for detailing and pants
• Claire's White striping Polish - for the shirt
• Sally Hansen Celeb City - for the buttons
• Ink Nail Art Dark Red - for the bowtie

A Dalek on my ring finger:

• Revlon Vincent Van Gold - for the base
• It's So Easy Stripe Rite Black - for detailing
• Claire's Gem Wheel - yellow rhinestones - for the "Dalek bumps"
• Claire's Gem Wheel - silver rhinestones - for the eye stalk.

A Cyberman on my pinky:

• Claire's Celeb City - for the base
• It's So Easy Stripe Rite Black - for detailing

Also ... I just finished watching the special. So. Good.

Flakie Comic Nails

I wanted to do comic book nails again, but I thought it might be fun to add some flakies to it.

Two coats Color Club Love Links - this is a red with just a hint of orange. I picked this one up a while back on clearance from a local nail supply place. I was going to buy OPI's My Paprika Is Hotter Than Yours, but spotted this bottle for $1.99. It looked pretty close in the bottle, except the OPI had a slight shimmer to it. I was mostly looking for the shade, and I love a bargain, so Color Club won.

I added a coat of Icing By Claire's Rave Royalty - I really wish this one photographed better. The flakies are an iridescent orange-gold.

I applied a black outline using It's So Easy black striping polish and the "shine" detail using Claire's white striping polish. I think I could have left out the white, but it still looks good.

Mint Apple Caviar

I'm a big fan of deals on nail stuff - so, when Urban Planet started carrying nail stuff at 3 for $5, I had to look.

I mentioned the Nabi 3D Rainbow Effect polishes in my last post, I'm hoping to pick up the rest of them, because I really like them.

They also have other bits and pieces - I've wanted to try the beaded "caviar" manicure for a while, and they had a pack of 5 little vials of different coloured beads.

The blue-green beads were an almost perfect match for Sinful Colors Mint Apple.

Each finger got two coats of Mint Apple.
I used a normal topcoat on my ring finger and then poured the beads over top into a little dish,
I used my normal quick dry topcoat on the rest.
It looks kind of cute, but the beads did start to pop off the next day, so this kind of a one-night manicure.

Catching up Part 2

I was looking up autumn nail trends, and found a couple of shades that I thought would really work well together: navy blue and chocolate brown. I also wanted to use the striping tape that I bought at a local Asian night market, so I thought diagonal two-tone would be fun.

I used China Glaze First Mate for the blue and Revlon Chocolate Truffle for the brown. The striping tape is a holographic gold.
My topcoat picked up the brown and deposited it on the blue on a couple of nails ... oops.

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Oxblood was another autumn trend, so I thought it would be a good choice.

I used two coats of Sally Hansen Burgundy Child for most of the fingers, and two coats of Nabi 3D Rainbow Effect in Tawny
The Nabi polishes aren't bad - I get them 3 for $5 at Urban Planet, and while not super strong, they do have a slight linear holo effect going on.

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I needed some orange for Thanksgiving / Halloween:

3 coats Nabi 3D Rainbow Effect in Bronze (mine is mislabeled as "Brone" - hah!) and I did a "sideways Fench" with Avon Golden Twilight - a black with gold glitter.
Fuzzy image for the slight holo effect:

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Finally, for Halloween, I decided to do something different on every finger.

- Thumb was a vampire mouth: Color Club Red de Rio for the base, Claire's black detail polish in the middle and detailing at the top, Claire's white detail polish for teeth and a "shine" on the bottom lip.
- Index finger was a jack-o-lantern: Revlon Nude Beige base, NYC Pumpkin for the pumpkin, Claire's black detail polish for the face and outline, I used a no-name green glitter detail polish for the stem.
- Middle finger was one of my favourites - a ghost. I used Sinful Colors Snow Me White, added Wet n Wild glow in the dark topcoat, then created the outline with Claire's black detail polish - I used a dotting tool for the bottom and the eyes.
- Ring finger was my other favourite - a blob of slime. Revlon Nude Beige for the base, Nabi 3D Rainbow Effect in Green for the slime, Claire's black detail polish for the outline.
- Pinky was done by applying a layer of Sinful Colors Snow Me White, a layer of Sally Hansen Sun Kissed and finally a layer of Sally Hansen Mellow Yellow. I outlined it all with Claire's black detail polish to create the triangular Candy Corn shape.

phew!