NOTD: Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream (2 coats)

macro shot

My niece loved this polish! It was a top-coat eater after one coat of NYC Grand Central Station, so I added two coats of Gelous and another coat of NYC Grand Central Station in an effort to smooth it out. Totally took care of the problem and I am absolutely loving this.

Details
Brand/Name: Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream
Number of coats in pic/topcoat?: 2 coats topped with NYC Grand Central Station, followed by 2 coats of Gelous and another coat of NYC GCS to smooth the glitter out
Price: $18
Purchased from: Apothica.com
Collection: Mermaid's Dream is part Deborah Lippmann's Spring 2012 collection, along with On the Beach.

nails inc.: Special Effects and Nail Jewelry

1 coat of nails inc. Kings Cross (from the Special Effects Neon Top Crackle Top Coat line)

over 2 coats of nails inc. Floral Street

Although these are sold separately, the instructions on the crackle effect polish Kings Cross says to apply it over Floral Street, so that's exactly what I did. Floral Street needed two coats for complete coverage, and was sort of thick. Kings Cross was probably the easiest crackle polish I have ever worked it! It was so thin, it was easy to work it and crackled super-fast. It dried somewhat matte, so I applied a coat of topcoat before I took this pic.

 Next, I wanted to re-swatch Royal Arcade from the Nail Jewelry line. When I first swatched it a few weeks ago, I did it by itself and I really liked the coverage I got in two coats.

nails inc. Royal Arcade (Sapphire Nail Jewelry) from the Nail Jewelry line
2 coats

But I had seen several other bloggers swatch it over black, so I thought I'd give that a try.

1 coat of nails inc. Royal Arcade (Sapphire Nail Jewelry) from the Nail Jewelry line

over 1 coat of nails inc. Black Taxi

How pretty is that? I love that you can get two different looks from this Nail Jewelry polish, and I especially like that it has that much glitter in just one coat.

Disclosure: All four shades featured in this post were provided to me for review purposes.

NOTD: butter LONDON Knackered

butter LONDON Knackered

Multichrome (grey, light purple, greenish teal) sheer base with holographic microglitter

This picture does not do this justice. It's really so pretty. I did three coats and it covered pretty well, although the free edge of the nail didn't take the color as well as the rest of the nail.

I've seen quite a few bloggers layer this over a dark shade, and I need to try that.

I purchased this directly from butter LONDON during a sale last month, but regular retail price is $14.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color- more swatches

I was so excited to get a few more shades from the Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color collection to try. I noticed that several pairings looked somewhat similar in the bottle and I was interested to see how different they looked on the nail.

 Graphite Gravity, Silver Elements

 

Graphite Gravity on the left, alternated with Silver Elements

 Kinetic Copper, Golden Conduct

Kinetic Copper on the left alternated with Golden Conduct

 

So even though these shades appeared similar in the bottle, the effects were very different on the nail, especially once the magnet was applied.

 

As I said yesterday, I found the magnet pretty easy to use right off the bat and didn't have any problems with it. My nails are quite curved, so the design doesn't quite go to the edges of my nails since the magnet can't reach the sides, but I totally don't mind. I still think it's looks fabulous.

Here's the directions from Sally Hansen's website:

STEP 1: Apply 1 coat of base coat. Shake Magnetic Nail Color to activate. Remove overcap with magnet and set aside. Apply 1 coat of Magnetic Nail Color to all 10 nails and let dry. 

STEP 2: Apply a thick second coat of color to 1 nail and immediately hold the built-in magnet over the nail. Rest the guide just below the cuticle without touching the wet nail polish. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat for all 10 nails and let dry. Finish with top coat.

Disclosure: These four shades were sent to me for review purposes.

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color in Red-y Response

 Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color in Red-y Response

How gorgeous is this? I purchased this at Target recently because I knew I would love this color. I found the magnet pretty easy to use right off the bat and didn't have any problems with it. My nails are quite curved, so the design doesn't quite go to the edges of my nails since the magnet can't reach the sides, but I totally don't mind. I still think it's looks fabulous.

Here's the directions from Sally Hansen's website:
STEP 1: Apply 1 coat of base coat. Shake Magnetic Nail Color to activate. Remove overcap with magnet and set aside. Apply 1 coat of Magnetic Nail Color to all 10 nails and let dry. STEP 2: Apply a thick second coat of color to 1 nail and immediately hold the built-in magnet over the nail. Rest the guide just below the cuticle without touching the wet nail polish. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat for all 10 nails and let dry. Finish with top coat.

NOTD: butter LONDON All Hail the Queen

butter LONDON All Hail the Queen

A few weeks ago butter LONDON was having a great sale and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to pick up my first polishes from them.

I chose All Hail the Queen for my first butter LONDON mani, and I really like it. It applied like a dream and I only had to do two coats. I will say the holo is pretty weak in this one.... but still quite pretty and I'm glad to have it in my collection.

What butter LONDON shades do you recommend?

SinfulColors POPTastic Summer 2012 Press Release

A Seriously POPtastic Summer Collection from SINFULCOLORS

Iconic imagery. Bold brights. That's the message this season as the SinfulColors POPTastic Summer 2012 collection pops up everywhere, from pointers to pinkies. These eight eye-popping, jaw-dropping, tip-delighting, pop culture hues take pop beyond an artistic style to a lifestyle that's all the rage. Envision lots of pizazz with super-shiny polish, a whole new way to express yourself, compliments of SinfulColors. The POPtastic collection of 8 shockingly rich color meets serious shine from SinfulColors includes: Citrine: A bold, but wonderfully wearable, slice of juicy delight Why Not: A matte turquoise that pops Let's Meet: Sunshine at its finest Outrageous: A poppy, fresh bubble-gum shade Energetic Red: A classic fire engine red Exotic Green: Move over Grover, a take on the classic tree & plant inspired shade Dressed To Kill: Hello Kitty never had it so good with this shade of pink Clementine: Everything a citrus fruit should be: juicy, bright and zesty SinfulColors surpasses the masses with more than 150 amazing shades of nail polish, including the above-mentioned shades. All hues are available for $1.99 at major drug and mass-market stores nationwide such as Target & Walgreens, by calling 1-800-448-0763 or online at www.walgreens.com.