Embrace the Grey with This Geometric Necktie Patterned Nail Art

Despite the fact that I haven't seen or read 50 Shades of Grey, I think we all know the basic gist of the story. OPI's 50 Shades collection includes a range of six shades - five greys and a red - and I used three of them to create this nail art look today. I chose a geometric pattern, one that you might find on a necktie, which fits with what I know about the story quite well, I think.

Nail polish used:
OPI Embrace the Grey
OPI Dark Side of the Mood
OPI My Silk Tie

I began by painting my nails with two coats of Embrace the Grey. It applied smoothly and evenly, like OPI cremes usually do!

I painted on a freehand square pattern using Dark Side of the Mood, and then added the silvery squares inside them with My Silk Tie.

What do you think - Christian-esque?

Ya know, even though I haven't seen the movie or read the books, I can get behind a good geometric pattern any day of the week! What about you - have you "Embraced the Grey"?

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Metallic zebra nail art

These are some nails I did some while back. A sea foam toned metallic silver color and then regular silver stripes on top. The result was some what subtle but still cool.

Polishes used:
China Glaze - Metallic Muse
L.A. Colors Art Deco - Silver

What do you think? :)

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Deck Your Nails Out With Girly Bits This Winter

Let's face it... We don't need an excuse to deck out our nails with gorgeous shimmers, glitters, holographics, and textures. However, why not celebrate the season with luxurious lacquers and fantastic formulas from Girly Bits? Let's take a look at a few of the shades I've tried recently!

Arctic Sunrise is a beautiful bright blue with a heavy pink shimmer. I think it's appropriate for both winter and for upcoming spring and summer months. Gotta love a polish with good seasonal mileage! Three coats.

Bette Davis Eyes is a pale silver with a light textured finish. Cool! This was one of the newer Girly Bits shades that I was most curious about. I wasn't disappointed, it's really neat. If you prefer low-intensity textured finishes, this one has a really subtle grit to it. Two coats.

Ho Ho Hope is a red-toned-violet holographic shade with a subtle holo rainbow. The formula was lovely, needing just two coats for the coverage shown, and the color is enchanting.

Lover's Coral is a soft peachy-coral shade. I've worn this one twice recently, it's a great clean pink for when you are looking for something sweet and simple. Three coats.

Too Hot For Pants is a red-fuchsia jelly with heavy shimmer and holo microglitter. It's a very rich shade, which makes it a perfect choice for the holidays. Two coats shown.

Walk Like an Egyptian is one of my most favorite Girly Bits shades to date. This champagne gold is so luxurious. It's holographic in the sun, but looks just as lovely indoors! If you are a gold nail polish fan, this is totally a winner. This is three coats but many could get away with only two.

So, which one is your favorite? I love the variety of colors, textures, and finishes in the Girly Bits lineup, and am always impressed by the formulas. My top picks would be Walk Like an Egyptian and Bette Davis Eyes. Siiiillllver and gooooold, siiiiilllver and gooooolllddd....

Girly Bits polishes are sold on girlybitscosmetics.com and via distributors. Keep up with the brand on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more info.

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Flannel and Lace - China Glaze Twinkle Collection Nail Art

Tough, rugged flannel meets soft and sweet lace! Though I know it's not even Halloween yet, this manicure feels perfect for winter. The Christmas-y plaid with the silver accent has me thinking cocoa and fireplaces. Meanwhile, in the real world, it's still 95 degrees here in the good old desert. Ah, a girl can dream.

Nail polishes used:
China Glaze Tip Your Hat
China Glaze Out Like a Light
China Glaze I'd Melt For You

Tip Your Hat is a gorgeous deep red creme. It covered well in one coat but I've used two here, because everyone knows it's impossible to just use one coat of polish, even if you get full coverage! It can look quite a bit darker depending on the light.

I'd Melt For You is a flashy silver chrome. I painted two coats on my bare nail, so I can't speak to how it applies if you're wearing a base coat, but keep in mind that it does show ridges if you've got 'em. You've seen other silver chromes on the market and here's another to add to the list! A savvy shopper probably won't need to double up, but if you've somehow missed them in the past, this is a great piece to add to a collection.

I used Out Light a Light to paint the flannel and lace detailing freehand. It had great opacity and a nice formula that worked well for nail art. I love these sorts of deep greys, too.

Is it already feeling wintry where you are? Or are you still suffering the last legs of summer like me?

Check out the press release for the China Glaze Twinkle Collection for Holiday 2014 to see the rest of the shades in this lineup, which officially goes up for sale in November.

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China Glaze - Metallic Muse, swatch

What about more silver toned colors? Metallic Muse is also from CG's fall/winter collection from 2009. This time the metallic silver leans towards green/teal or perhaps the popular color describing word; sea foam. The best part here is that also this one (showed another one yesterday) is a one-coater. If it's green enough for Green Wednesday I don't know, we'll see what Karin says. ;)

Also bought at 8ty8beuaty around when it was released.

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China Glaze - Sci-Fi, swatch

Today I'm showing a polish from my mom's stash, archive nails, because when I'm at my parents place I usually borrow my mom's polishes (with permission of course). 

Anyhow, Sci-Fi is from a fall/winter collection from 2009 but nevertheless not bad at all. I've been thinking of getting a bottle of my one several times but there's always so many polishes one wants. Sci-Fi is a 1-coater and has some brush strokes tendencies even though that doesn't bother me. The polish is almost chrome like, and the color is silver metallic going towards pink/purple or beige depending on the light. It's not 100% gray at least ever. I've also heard that is should be good for stamping which I'm definitely will try next visit at my parents! ;)

In sunlight.

Here is a close-up you can see how cool it looks when it's reflected by light.

This polish is bought from 8ty8beauty.com way back (2009/2010) when me and my mother shared a package.

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KBShimmer 6th Anniversary Collection

A Happy 6th Anniversary to KBShimmer! The brand is celebrating their milestone with a three-piece, beachy themed collection in cute and fun colors. I love the way these go together. Let's check them out...

Beach Please is a hot pink creme that covered perfectly and evenly in two coats. I...love...this. It's so shiny and pretty. It has a bit of a "squishy" jellylike finish, but without the visible nail line. Winning.

Hexy Bikini is a sparklebomb silver textured polish with fuchsia and aqua glitters. It applied surprisingly nicely, and I needed two coats for the coverage shown here. No top coat, since this is a textured shade, but you could probably do a few thick coats of topcoat for a smoother effect.

Shore Thing is an bright mint green shade. Very flattering and a super cheerful color. I used three coats here but it was very close at two.

Though I'm not usually a pink gal, I have to say that Beach Please is my favorite of this collection. It's so lovely, the formula is wonderful, and the name is hilarious. Of course, the other shades are nice as well, and I have no complaints! Which one do you like best?

KBShimmer is available for purchase from KBShimmer.com in the US and Harlow & Co for international orders. You can also keep up with the brand on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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OPI This Gown Needs a Crown

Here's a quick Sunday swatch for ya... OPI's This Gown Needs a Crown! This polish was a part of the limited edition Miss Universe 2013 collection, along with two purple creme shades. It's a gorgeous satin-matte sparkly silver, and I love it very much. I believe this is two coats shown.

Do you own this shade? It reminds me of a silver version of Love.Angel.Music.Baby. from the Gwen Stefani collection (which I also love).

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A-England Hurt No Living Thing and Excalibur Renaissance

A-England has released a couple of new shades recently: Hurt No Living Thing and Excalibur Renaissance. Read on for my swatches and review!

Excalibur Renaissance is a highly pigmented silver chrome. It has some brushstrokes when applied, but they do minimize as the polish dries down. It needs just one coat, but I've used two here for good measure in photographs. It's highly reflective and really beautiful!

It's also my understanding that Excalibur Renaissance is a reissue of a shade that had been previously retired. I can see why it was brought back!

Hurt No Living Thing is a sheer grey polish with a pink-to-orange shimmer. Unfortunately my camera has some difficulty capturing pinks, so the shimmer isn't as punchy in my photos as it is in person. I applied four coats for the swatch below and you can still see a bit of visible nail line, so I think it's safe to say that it is not meant to be opaque when worn alone.

You can also layer it over other polishes to transform the look. I started with a base of OPI A Grape Affair for the look below, and then added two coats of Hurt No Living Thing. I tried using just one coat at first, but the milky grey base was a little too streaky over such a dark base. However, I found that it did even out with the addition of a second coat.



Excalibur Renaissance is a real winner. The full coverage silver is just perfection. Hurt No Living Thing is nice, but a bit too subtle for my tastes. I wish that the grey base went further in either direction: more opaque for buildability or less opaque to put more of a focus on the shimmer as a topper.

UK residents can purchase directly from A-England, while others can check the "Where to Buy" page to review stockists.

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Nailbox SS'14 Trendbox Curated by All Lacquered Up

Nailbox, an online polish retailer, is launching a new nail polish subscription box called TrendBox. The first TrendBox for spring/summer 2014 was curated by the lovely Michelle from All Lacquered Up, and her selections are positively delightful! This box is available on its own, or you can pick up a subscription which delivers boxes quarterly. Read on for swatches of the TrendBox polishes and additional details on the subscription service.

Face Stockholm - Athena is a megawatt in-your-face silver holographic. Just look at that holo arc! I used three coats plus topcoat for the photo below but two coats of Athena would have sufficed. It applied like a dream, and didn't require any special base coat.

JINsoon - Cool Blue is an absolutely on-trend cobalt blue. This is my first experience with JINsoon polishes and I have to say I'm enamored. This blue beauty has me wanting more! I used two coats for the swatch below, and the formula was just divine. Perfectly smooth and buttery.

LVX - Roux is a sizzling coral shade perfect for summer. I only recently tried out LVX for the first time and have been enjoying their polishes a lot. This one is no exception, needing just two easy coats for full coverage.

NCLA Candy Coat - Mint Condition is a glowy yellow-green with a slight shimmer and a subtle texture. Mint Condition is one of the more mild textures I've used, so if you are still hesitant to try the texture trend, this is a great first step. Never fear though... texture veterans will also enjoy this unique shade! Three thin coats shown.

I love the range of shades and finishes in the first TrendBox. Michelle did a wonderful job making sure that there's something for everyone in this box. I also liked playing with brands that I had less experience with, and was even more pleased to find that I loved them all!

The SS'14 TrendBox is available as a single box for $35 (a $65 value) or you can purchase the one year subscription for $105 (a $265 value).

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A Shortcut I'm Happy to Take: Water Marble Stamping

Water marbling: If you've tried it, you probably hate-love it (unless you're one of those girls with ridiculous natural marbling talent, in which case I hate-love you too). On one hand, it produces gorgeous results. Really unique, showstopping results. On the other hand, it's hard. Really hard. There are a million things that could go wrong at any step in the process. I've just never managed to do it without getting frustrated.

I was happy to take a shortcut for today's water marble effect. Enter: Vivid Lacquer's imitation water marble stamping image.

Though I've never been much of a stamper, I still found this much easier than marbling. I think it'd be gorgeous to do a rainbow gradient as the base and then stamp black "marbling" over the top.

I used:
Vivid Lacquer plate VL009
Sally Hansen Leaden Lilac
ILNP Indie Go

As always, I had no problems with the quality of the Vivid Lacquer plate. I really appreciate that the water marble image is oversized, so you can use a different area of the image for each nail. It definitely makes it look more realistic. Water marbling doesn't look 100% identical on each nail, and neither does this stamping!

Are you more of a water marbler or a stamper?

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Fizzy French - OPI Coca-Cola Nail Art

When I first heard about the OPI and Coca Cola collaboration, I thought it was an unusual pairing. I mean, nail polish and soda? But now that I've had a chance to play with the polishes, I can say that as long as collections like this one keep coming out, I don't care if OPI partners with aliens from the moon. The lacquers are all wonderful and I can see the direct relation between the shades and the sodas they are meant to represent.

I created this simple Fizzy French tip look using two polishes from the Coca-Cola by OPI collection.

How can you modify a French tip when you're using soda-inspired polishes? Add some carbonation, of course!

I started by using large dots to vaguely follow the tips of my nails, which reinforced the faux-French effect. Once I was happy with the tips, I added more small dots floating away from them. There you have it: instant carbonation! Seriously, this nail art takes almost no time at all. All you need is a dotting tool and five minutes.

Shades used:
OPI Coca-Cola Red - Two coats shown, one coat needed. Great red.
OPI My Signature is "DC" - Highly pigmented and beautiful silver.

What do you think of this look? Will you be picking up any of the Coca-Cola by OPI lacquers?

Coca-Cola by OPI is available now in professional salons like Beauty Brands, ULTA, Trade Secret, and more.

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