NOTD - Neon Leopard Holo Garbage

Any thoughts on the odd title? I just had to use the word "garbage", you will know why later if you do not already know. Recently, I got to go to one of my favorite polish supply stores! Yay~ I actaully had quite a bit of self-control in the store to my own surprise. When I got home I couldn't wait to use my new pretties! Awhile back Rebecca Likes Nails did a leopard mani using a couple of polishes from the China Glaze Sunsational collection. Needless to say I loved the combination and had to recreate the mani! My version is identical to her's except I wore Orly Sparkling Garbage on my pinky (hence the title).

The leopard print was kind of butchered, since I had to use a very awkward tool (the flat head on the back of a tiny needle). After searching all over the apartment for a "dotting tool" this was my best alternative. Should have brought my dotting tools! Anyway, I'm calling this "abstract leopard" haha.

Mani Composition:
Index & Middle - 2 coats China Glaze That's Shore Bright (with Top Coat)
Thumb & Ring - 2 coats China Glaze Highlight of My Summer and ChG TSB leopard print
Pinky - 3 coats Orly Sparkling Garbage

Gosh! I am loving everything about this mani: the colours, the combination and that holo glitter! Thanks for the inspiration Rebecca~

How do you guys like this mani? Do you own any of the polishes used in this mani?

Swatch - Ruby Wing Poppy

Gosh, it's been awhile since I last posted! Life has been busy. I am hoping everything will settle down real soon! Currently, I'm away from my home stash but I do keep a small stash of polish at the location I'm at right now. So I am excited to play with some of the untrieds I have here~

On with today's post! Another Ruby Wing polish, I just love these UV-induced colour changing polishes. They are super fun to wear on a sunny day outting!

Ruby Wing Poppy:
Hot pink neon cream that changes to plum under the sun. The colour is actually coral/red pink on the nail rather than neon pink as shown in bottle; and brighter and tad more pink in real life than in pictures. The polish is also scented, smelling like flowers (actually smells like the Anna Sui polishes that I have). Pictures show two coats without top coat.

 Below shows the index and ring fingers exposed to sun (middle and pinky not exposed to UV rays). Look at the drastic colour difference!

Specifications:
Formula - Excellent, applied like butter, self-leveling, really easy to spread/maneuver
Pigmentation - Excellent, one coater when do medium coat
Shine - Some, rubber-like finish
Dry time - Long
Removal - Easy

I really enjoyed wearing this polish, especially while in the sun! I also did a fun mani using stamping and another Ruby Wing polish that I will show you soon. Hope you guys enjoyed this short post~

Do you own any colour changing polishes? Do you own Ruby Wing Poppy?

Swatch - China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise

This post will be a quicky! I have been on the job hunt lately and boy am I out of practice with interviews and what not. Lots to do, but painting my nails keeps me sane. I'm sure this is true for many of you reading this ;)

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise:
A neon turqoise with strong green tone and subtle sheen for a velvet/pearly look. This is from the 2005 Nervy Neons collection, and had been re-released a couple of times in different collections. This was the most impossible colour to photograph!!! In real life, the colour is much darker, more green and not washed-out looking. Though, I do love this colour my camera made up in the second photo.

Shown is two coats with no top coat for index and ring fingers (top coat on middle and pinky) in the pictures below:

Specifications:
Formula -Average
Pigmentation - Okay, 2 thin coats can give full coverage (if work carefully); otherwise need 3 coats to get rid of patchiness
Dry time - Fast (work fast to avoid dragging)
Shine - None, matte
Removal - Easy

I have used this colour in nail art before, and actually liked it better then than I do having it has a full mani. In fact, I like the colour in the pictures better than what it is in real life... well how about that?

Untried Polish Challenge - In Season

Time for another day of Untried Polish Challenge! In Season is the theme and I have chosen OPI Can't Find My Czechbook. This is a very popular colour this spring and it definitely fits in with the season.

CFMC is a very cute dusty robin egg blue cream polish. Usually I'm not really into blues because they do not go well with my skin tone, but this was very wearable. There will be a full review and comparison of this polish coming up soon! Happy polishing everyone~

Swatch - Ruby Wing Green Peace

The sun has been out for almost a whole week straight! I am truly amazed and had to wear my Ruby Wing polishes before the sun hides behind clouds again. Ruby Wing is a polish brand that changes colours when UV rays hit the polish.

Ruby Wing Green Peace:
Neon green indoors that changes to dark grass green in the sun. The drastic colour change makes it very obvious that you are wearing two different colours. Colour change occurs within seconds of UV exposure, and takes less than a minute to complete. Beware: this polish was still patchy at 3 coats! Slightly brighter in real life than in photos. Pictures show 3 coats without top coat.

Below shows the difference in colour between sun exposure (index & ring) and no exposure (middle & pinky):

Specifications:
Formula - bad, hard to maneuver polish, not self-leveling
Application - tough: streaky, patchy, dragging, cannot get even application
Pigmentation - good
Shine - matte (no shine)
Dry time - fast (especially for very thin coats)
Removal - easy
Staining - a little

I wasn't too impressed with this polish because of the awful formula. However, it is so hard to hate this polish because of the awesome colours and the drastic change. I loved wearing this polish, the colour was perfect for summer and the colour change is amusing~

Do you own any colour changing polishes? Will you be passing up or getting Green Peace?

NOTD - Black Chevron French

Today, I am showing a mani that I have been wanting to do for awhile but never got around to doing: chevron french mani in black and nude. I love the black and nude combo, especially for french manicures!

What was used:

Ring - OPI Play The Peonies and OPI You Glitter Be Good To Me

All other fingers - OPI Mimosas For Mr. & Mrs. and OPI Black Onyx tips

I really liked the overall look and the combination of polishes. My chevron tips were not nearly as clean as they should be, so I will need more practice using tape. This time I tried masking tape instead of scotch tape, not sure which type I like better. I will have to try more tape mani's to determine which kind of tape is better. The reason I wanted to try masking tape was because scotch tape would rip as it is peeled off. This is incredibly frustrating if there is no way to peel the tape off after it rips.

Any tips on doing a french manicure? (haha...tips, get it?) Do you prefer using scotch or masking tape for nail designs?

Sunshine Award

The weather has been especially nice the past couple days, so I have this extra spring in my step. Plus, I got nominated for this Sunshine Award by Michelle at Lacquer or Leave Her! Let's get to it then~

A. Thank the person who nominated you
Thanks so much Michelle for nominating me! Not only is the sun shining outside, but also on this blog now~ yay!

B. Post award logo on blog

C. Share seven facts about yourself
(1) Speak fluent Mandarin (from my appearance you would not be able to guess this)
(2) Have gotten stitches three times in my life (so far... knock on wood!) and all on my face...yes, I was a very active child
(3) Can wiggle my little toe, but only on one foot, so that it waves "Hi" at people... sorry if I just created a gross foot image for you all
(4) My polish obsession started last year when I began living on my own in a new city. Polish was my friend~ That sounds really sad, but it wasn't! I have really awesome memories that will stay with me forever from that city.
(5) Purple is my favorite colour, but teal is my weak spot for polish colours
(6) Hate carrots, but force myself to eat them when it is served (I refuse to waste food!)
(7) I love hot climates (we're talking 30 degrees Celsius and higher)

D) Nominate five more blogs:
(1) Marta at Chit Chat Nails
(2) Work/Play/Polish
(3) Cynthia at Of Life and Lacquer
(4) Rebecca at Rebecca Likes Nails
(5) Jessica at Be Happy and Buy Polish

These ladies all have wonderful blogs and I highly encourage you to check them all out if you have not already done so!

Thanks again Michelle for nominating me! This was great fun! I spot a trend here...you seem to always get me off my lazy chair to do something fun on the blog.

Untried Polish Challenge - 2 Colors

Today, I have an exciting challenge to tell you guys about. You may have seen a few blogs doing this challenge already, which is how I came across it. This is the Untried Polish Challenge made by Just Add Polish. I think this challenge is a brilliant idea! As a person who tends to buy polish at a rate faster than she wears them, a group of polishes start to sit around waiting patiently to be tried. So this challenge will really help to make my untried stash smaller (maybe even non-existent!). The term "untried" I think of as polishes that have never been worn. Polishes used in pedicures, nail art, stamping, if it has been opened and put on the nail in anyway I do not consider as an untried.

The challenge is extremely flexible. It can be done in any order, over how ever many days, and not all need to be done if some do not apply. The flexibility is great, because I have a very hard time keeping up with 31 day nail challenges (I attempted once and abandoned ship). I like to enjoy my manicures for a couple of days. Let's get cracking' on this challenge!

We are starting off with "Two Colors" because I am doing this challenge in random order based on how my mood strikes me. Or stating it in a more poetic way: where ever my inspiration shall come from. The two untried colours are OPI Play The Peonies and OPI Give Me Moor!.

What made the manicure:
Two coats OPI Play The Peonies as base for all nails.
Thumb & Index - Stamp with OPI Give Me Moor! from Cheeky Jumbo C plate
Middle - OPI Give Me Moore! half moon
Ring - OPI You Glitter Be Good To Me
Pinky - OPI Play The Peonies

This is my first attempt at a half moon and it did not turn out well. Me trying to fix it also made the half moon worse. The stamping was not as successful as I had hoped either, but maybe with more practice I will get them perfect. With all that said, I really enjoyed wearing this mani because I loved the colour combination and how it looked from afar.

Do you guys have a stash of untrieds? Will be taking part in this challenge? (If yes, I would love to see what you come up with in this challenge! Provide a link in the comments below)

Share - Upcoming OPI collections of 2013 Updated!

I have been dying to know what else OPI will be releasing this year. Since a few Canadian bloggers got to go to an exclusive OPI event today, we now know what will be coming out! I also did some digging around to find what else will be released. This is just what I have found out so far, I'm sure I will be adding more to this post as the year goes on. Credits as to where I got the images will be under each picture, they are links that will take you to the website. So you ready for this?

April: Matte Top Coat
A GelColor version of the matte top coat will also be release at the same time.

OPI Facebook page

May: The Bond Girls
This will be an all liquid sand collection (total of 6 liquid sands).

 Phoenix Beauty Lounge Blog

 Marta Warmuz Instagram Photo

bioarcapolas.blogspot.com  

June: Couture de Minnie

bioarcapolas.blogspot.com

August: San Francisco

 Swatch And Learn Instagram

 imabeautygeek.com

For more swatch photos and bottle shots please click on the link above.

So what do you guys think? I am definitely excited about all these collections that are going to come out. There are some great liquid sand polishes coming out. A drool worthy glitter in the Minnie collection. And a multichrome (Peace & Love & OPI) in the San Fran collection! Amazing!

June 1, 2013 Update:
September: Breast Cancer Awareness

Photo credit: Polish Infatuated

October: Halloween Collection

Photo credit: Polish Infatuated