Happy Halloween!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

I've been super busy with work, so sorry about the late post. And I did this mani at 1 AM, so sorry about the bad gradient! Nothing makes me wish I were a kid again more than Halloween and this Halloween it seems more so than usual. I hate working on Halloween, I think we should have it off!!

Polishes used- old Color Club black creme, OPI Angel with a Lead Foot (white), Sally Hansen Tribal Sun (orange), Sally Hansen Lightening (yellow). Tools used- dotting tools and sponge.

 Hope your Halloween was spookier than mine!

OPI Hawaii Spring/Summer 2015 Swatches- Hawaiian Sunset!

*Sent for review*

The OPI Hawaii collection for Spring/Summer 2015 is exactly what I need in my life right now. It really makes me think of a trip to the beautiful islands of Hawaii, a trip I'd like to take immediately. For this collection, I'm going to do a little something different. I'm going to post them a couple at a time and include a fun look with each post. Today I picked three of the colors that remind me of a Hawaiian sunset. OPI Go With the Lava Flow is a juicy blood orange with golden shimmer. This fiery red orange beauty gets a nice kick from the gold in the shimmering base. You can see the gold mostly in brighter lights, although you can see the shimmer even in dim lighting.

This is two coats of Go With the Lava Flow. It was very easy to apply and nicely opaque. The consistency is pretty perfect. I especially can't wait to wear this on my toes on an 85 degree day!

OPI Aloha From OPI is a bright red coral creme. This is a standard summer color, but I can never get enough of them! This particular version leans on the redder side of coral, but still has hints of orange and pink.

This is two coats of Aloha from OPI. It was pretty easy to apply. The consistency was good, maybe a tad thicker than some cremes, but not in a bad way.

OPI Is Mai Tai Crooked? is a yellow-toned peach creme. It's a brighter peach, not so much pastel, but it's definitely a peach that leans yellow, not pink. My camera seemed to be a little confused by this one. I think my last picture is the most accurate. The first one is a little too bright, the one below is a little too pastel and dusty.

This is three coats of Is Mai Tai Crooked?. It had good pigmentation and was fairly even in two coats. I did a third coat to just smooth out an area or two, but you may find that two coats is perfect.

When I put Aloha from OPI and Is Mai Tai Crooked? next to each other, I instantly thought of a sunset, so I had to do a gradient. This looked much better blended in person, the sponge marks are so much less obvious. I feel like that's the case a lot of times with sponged gradients, they end up looking splotchy in pictures. I really love this in person, I've gotten loads of compliments on it!

Ahhhh, this makes you think of beaches and warmth, doesn't it?

*Sent for review*

The OPI Hawaii collection is available now at Ulta, Ulta.com, and fine salons.

Nicole by OPI Minty Mermaid Gradient with New Roughles Polish!

 *"On What Grounds?" sent for review*

The new Nicole by OPI Roughles polishes really caught my attention. Maybe because of my love of textures, maybe because I really needed some fun pastel colors to convince me that the temperature may someday go above freezing. I'll have the full swatches up this weekend, but this idea popped into my head and I had to wear it ASAP! For this look, I started with two easy coats of Nicole by OPI On What Grounds? (the new mint texture with blue flecks). Then I sponged on Nicole by OPI That's What I Mint (from the Gumdrops collection) for a gradient effect. This gradient just makes me think of mermaids and lagoons!

On What Grounds? is nicely opaque in just two coats and easy to apply. That's What I Mint made a fabulous polish for sponging, but do work in small areas because it dries very quickly.

 *"On What Grounds?" sent for review*

I have this on right now and am obsessed with this combo! So pretty! By the way, I just saw That's What I Mint at CVS last week, so if you missed it, check around. The Nicole by OPI Roughles will be available soon- full review and details on the weekend!

An OPI Holiday NOTD

 *Sent for review*

I'm just popping in today with a quick post- I'm in the thick of holiday action this week with decorating, parties, shopping, etc. But I've been dying to sponge one of the OPI holiday glitters over the tips of OPI In My Santa Suit since I first reviewed the OPI Mariah Carey Holiday collection and this time I picked My Favorite Ornament.

I always use a wedge-shaped make-up sponge to sponge on a glitter gradient. I always feel like the corners of the sponge give me more control. I love this look for a fun and festive holiday nail that doesn't take all day to do.

*Sent for review*

The OPI Mariah Carey Holiday collection is available now at Ulta and salons near you.

A Thanksgiving Mani with Born Pretty Store Loose Glitter!

Ahhhhh! It's Thanksgiving week in the U.S. already! Thanksgiving is one of my personal favorite holidays. It comes right after a HUGE stressful dance competition (I got 3rd this year!), and I feel like I get to really de-stress and relax. I haven't decided what I'm going to wear on my nails this Thanksgiving, but this nail art glitter gradient using Born Pretty Store loose glitter is a top contender. This loose glitter comes in a set of 12 different colors!! I picked four of them to use in this mani.

 I started with three coats of Zoya Penny, a soft metallic copper, as my base. Then, using a make-up sponge, I dabbed on the gold, orange, yellow, and red glitters from the set. I concentrated a bit more glitter at the base of my nails and used less towards the tips.

The glitter colors I used are kind of subtle against the copper, but I still really like the effect. It's very fall-like and Thanksgiving appropriate!

Yet another picture that Blogger decided to flip on it's side ^. I really hate that.

What will you be rocking on your nails this Thanksgiving? More importantly, what will you be eating??? I plan on shoveling large quantities of mashed potatoes, turkey, cranberry, and apple pie into my mouth.

This set of 12 loose glitters is available online at Born Pretty Store. Don't forget to use the code ERJ61 for 10% off of your order!!

Product sent for review. For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy.

Guest Swatch!

I'm always interested in what normal peoples' nails look like. I want to know what the non-bloggers are wearing. My high school best friend Jes recently let me know that she was wearing a gradient look with Zoya Wednesday and Zoya Robin and I just had to see it!!!! She sent me these pictures and I think this look is gorgeous!!! Wednesday and Robin go really well together. Jes, by the way, is the person who introduced me to the wonders of Sephora (my wallet cries) and eating uncooked cake batter. So many fun times!!

So tell me, what nail art are you really into right now?? Also, if you're super into nail art and love Sally Beauty Supply (who doesn't??), check out this giveaway info I received yesterday:

Join in on the Summer Fun Nail Art Contest

Los Angeles, Calif. (June 2012) – Take a dive into the world of nail art with It’s So Easy® and the Summer Fun Nail Art contest. Beginning on Sunday, July 1^st, nail art fanatics throughout the United States are invited to enter their nail creations to win cash or gift cards.

         

The prizes are as follows:

                   1^st: $1,000

                   2^nd: $500

                   3^rd: $250

                  

Twenty congratulations prizes will also be awarded, offering $25 gift cards to shop at Sally Beauty®, the largest source of professional beauty products in the world.

The Summer Fun Nail Art contest ends on Tuesday, July 31^st.

For more information about the contest and to enter, visit the NEW It’s So Easy® website atwww.itssoeasynails.com.

About It’s So Easy®

It’s So Easy® provides the highest quality nail art products for nail art applications. The line includes loose glitters, cracked ice flakes, sealer and dryer, rhinestones, brushes, and more. It’s So Easy® products are available now at Sally Beauty®. To find a store near you, visit www.sallybeauty.com.

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Gradation Semi-Fail

OK so here is my failed first attempt at a gradation mani. Why am I showing you a failed attempt? Well, I think the colors I used look amazing together, so you may want to experiment with them yourself. Also, I have some vague idea of why this failed, so I can share that with you and maybe try this again successfully. I think first attempts at nail art never come out that great, so bear with me here!



For this gradation, I started out with two coats of Sally Hansen Black Platinum. I let those coats dry completely before starting the next step. I read a gradation tutorial that recommended waiting for the base color to dry, but I think this would have come out better if I had done the next step when the polish was wet.

Next, I started about 1/3 of the way up the nail and did a coat of NARS Desperado. I let that dry also. I went up a bit more on the nail and did another coats of Desperado. I let that dry. Then I coated the tips of my nails in Desperado and let the whole thing dry (but obviously not for a long enough time as the color is pushed back at the tips a bit). I picked up a cat hair in the middle nail somewhere along the way, lovely.



So, my main problem with this gradation is the presence of the obvious lines where I started each coat. The tutorial I read said that a coat of top coat would blur those together. That obviously did not happen. The next time I try a gradation, I am not letting any of the coats dry. I think the polish will blend together much better if I do all of the coats while it is wet. Maybe even just do one nail at a time, so the polish is really fresh and moves around more.

My other problem is that this takes a LONG time to dry. I didn't use a fast dry top coat with this, obviously I will next time. It ends up being about 6 or 7 coats of polish at the tips, that doesn't dry very quickly!

Have you tried a gradation before? How did it work out? Is this color combo sick, or what?

(I'll have a full review of NARS Desperado up later in the week, by the way!)