Metallic Blue On Black Laser Tape Nail Art

Today's manicure is a fun metallic blue on black look that was made with laser tape. Originally, I had planned to place the tape, paint a second color over the top and then remove the tape to reveal different colored polish lines but once I put the tape on, I liked the look of this nail art and decided to skip the other steps.

Polishes Used: Orly - Liquid Vinyl, Seche Vite Topcoat, Blue Laser Tape

This nail art is pretty simple to create. Begin by painting the nails a base color (I used Orly - Liquid Vinyl), and allow to dry completely. Next, pick a colored laser tape and place strips in a random pattern across the nails. Snip the ends using a cuticle nipper and viola!

China Glaze - Def Defying

- Neon Green With A Side of...Mold? -

I have to admit that the accent nail of this manicure surely looked better in my imagination than it did in real life. I can't help but think that my accent nail looks a little... moldy? None the less, I love the bright neon look of China Glaze Def Defying. 

Of course it may be worthy to note that I love any and all bright colored nail polishes. One of the things I liked best about China Glaze Def Defying is the fact that it looks the same in the bottle and on the nails. Many neon polishes look completely different when applied, but not this one!

Polished Used: China Glaze - Def Defying, Orly - Liquid Vinyl and Seche Vite Topcoat.

I started with a nice thick coat of China Glaze Def Defying on all nails and allowed them all to dry fully. Next for the accent nail I painted one coat of Orly Liquid Vinyl on my ring finger, and then proceeded to use small sections of bunched up seran wrap to remove some of the polish while it was still wet. 

By dotting the seran wrap on the wet polish, small sections of the Liquid Vinyl was lifted up, leaving behind the faux marbled effect that I now realize looks strikingly familiar to a sandwich I once left in my Jr. High school locker over the summer.

With the right colors, I think the effect could be stunning though! If there is enough interest, I may be back with a step by step tutorial. 

 

Swatch Alert - Revlon Girly

Recently I was lucky enough to come across Revlon Girlie during my mini haul at Rite Aid and I just couldn't resist scooping it up. Let me tell you, boy am I glad that I did! It is definitely deserving of it's name, this polish is such a pretty light purple and so packed with glitter to boot. I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Now I know I told you I'd let the picture speak for itself, but I just can't resist saying a few words on its behalf. Revlon Girly is like an amazing jelly sandwich in a bottle. 

For those that are not familiar with this term, in the wide world of nail polish, a jelly sandwich is a fun manicure style that consists of a layer of sheer polish, then a layer of sparkly glitter, and then another layer of sheer polish to top it off. If you're looking for all of the jelly sandwich results with none of the homemade jelly sandwich work, here it is!

Sweets For Feet Foot Cream

Lately, in my attempt to prepare for the upcoming flip flip weather, I've been putting in a serious effort in order to make my feet look more model like and less Fred Flintstone like. With this in mind, this package from Sweets For Feet could not have possibly come at a better time!

Firstly, I need to address how insanely adorable the box was. I was expecting the package to arrive in the typical brown box stuffed with packing peanuts, so finding this bright pink box with a tiny foot sticker on the top sure was a welcome surprise!

As if it was possible to be any cuter, I opened the pink box to find this adorable silky drawstring pouch waiting for me with all of the foot creams inside!

Once I took a minute to take in all the cuteness, I was able to spread the foot creams out and start sniffing and testing. My sample pack included five 1oz jars of Baklava, Buttercream Dream, Ginger Spice Cookie, Sugah Free (unscented), and Lemonade Cake scented foot creams. I found the 1oz jars to be the perfect size for testing, too.

Being half Greek, I figured I'd be doing a disservice to the entire country if I didn't start with the Baklava scented cream.

I absolutely adored the scent of this cream. It was the perfect mix of honey and lemon. Although it smells delicious, I do have to admit that it would come in second against my Mom's baklava in a sniffing contest! (Hi, Mom!)

Next up was the Ginger Spice Cookie cream.

As expected, as soon as I opened the container I got hit right dab in the nose with the awesome smells of ginger spice. I love spice scented items, pumpkin spice, ginger spice, monkey butt spice, it doesn't matter. If it says spice, I seem to love it, and this was no exception. It honestly smelled as if fresh cookies were being baked, aside from the hunger inducing effect it has on me, this one was a winner.

Working my way through the samples, I was anxious to try Lemonade Cake as well.

When I first opened the container of Lemonade Cake, it was very easy for me to smell the lemon scent, but it seemed to float away in the air soon after. I'm a big fan of lemon scented beauty products, so for me I would have loved it to be a bit more lemon scented and longer lasting. While I couldn't smell the lemon for too long, it did leave the skin smelling very fresh and citrus scented.

Next up, it was time to put Buttercream Dream to the test.

I loved the sugary sweetness of the scent of this cream. The cream smelled mostly of brown sugar to me, though I could also pick up some hints of vanilla. This was another one that made me hungry. This seems to be an ongoing theme for me, so these could be dangerous for my diet!

Last up to bat is Sugar Free, the old reliable unscented cream.

This one has all the great benefits of all the other creams, but is perfect for someone that prefers unscented products or has allergies. Since the cream is all natural, it makes an excellent choice. I found the quality of this cream to be just as nice as its scented counterparts, so if you are like me you may prefer scented creams but don't count this one out just yet!

Overall, I loved the way that these creams felt on my skin. They soaked in well and were not sticky or greasy, which seems to be a problem with a lot of foot creams. The scents continued to last for quite some time as well. Honestly, the packaging was adorable, the creams were fantastic and the customer service of Sweets For Feet couldn't be beat. They were excellent in helping me track down the package after it had gone MIA at the local post office. After using these nightly for a week, I did notice that my feet are very soft and smooth. Flip flops, here I come!

Overall Rating: 4/5 GlamourGals

Ruby Kisses - Teal Envy

Thanks to a one day warmup here, I got a major megadose of Spring fever this week. I decided it was definitely time to bust out and dust off some of my trusty brights. Out of all of them, Ruby Kisses Teal Envy is one of my absolute faves! This color is the most perfect shade of bright blue I could ever dream of, pictures simple to do not it justice. Once I found it, I immediately went and bought 5 backups. If you're into brights like I am, this is a MUST HAVE!

Contest/Giveaway Roundup

I'm back with another roundup of a few fellow blogs that are currently hosting giveaways! There are some really great things up for grabs, so be sure to visit and enter!

• First in the roundup is Nail Addicted Sisters 100 Facebook Likes Giveaway. The lovely sisters have put together a great package of polishes and nail art supplies. The giveaway Ends March 10,2013 and is open Internationally.

•  You may also want to enter  Aye Lined Valentine's Day Blog Giveaway!  This great giveaway started on Valentine's Day and is just about to wrap up. The prize pack has a ton of beauty products and includes an Essie polish as well.  Ends March 14, 2013 and is open Internationally

• Next we have All The Pretty Things - Sleek Eyeshadow Palette Giveaway!! One lucky reader is going to win a Sleek Eyeshadow Palette of their choice from Cloud10Beauty.com. The giveaway Ends April 5, 2013 and is open Internationally.

• Finally, be sure to head on over to Makeuprshutup's 100 Follower Giveaway and check out the mini kit from Lit Cosmetics she has up for grabs. The giveaway ends as soon as she hits 100 blog followers and is open Internationally.

There we have it, our contest/giveway roundup for the week of March 10 - March 17!

And The Winner Is....

Congrats to Kari H. for winning our latest giveaway! She will be receiving the entire PixieDust Collection! Stay tuned and don't miss out on our next giveaway!

 

Zoya Pixie Dust Returns With A Brand New Summer Collection

Ermagerd! Is it true? Is this real life?

Photo:Zoya

Zoya PixieDust is back with a brand new summer line full of bright cheery colors. SHUT. UP. AND. TAKE. MY MONEY. I am a HUGE fan of the PixieDust line, which I previously reviewed and swatched for you all here. I will definitely be first in line for these!
 
According to the Press Release, here is a description of all the upcoming shades.

Zoya PixieDust Summer Collection

 
ZP681 - Liberty: Blue sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

ZP675 - Stevie: Violet sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

ZP682 - Miranda: Rose sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula. 

ZP676 - Destiny: Coral Metal sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula.

ZP677 - Beatrix: Tangerine Metal sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula. 
 
ZP683 - Solange: Gold Metal sparkle, exclusive Zoya PixieDust Matte Sparkle formula with  an exclusive pigment.

The summer collection will be available on Zoya.com beginning on April 1, 2013.

Sale Alert & Mini Revlon Haul

My quick stop at Rite Aid last night resulted in this fantastic mini Revlon haul!
Right now, Rite Aid is running a sale with coupon which made each of these beauties only $2.50, so if you have a Rite Aid near you, RUN! I got lucky and found full stock, including the much loved Whimsical at the store near me. Be sure to grab the sales ad by the door, you will need the paper coupon!

I scooped up Girly, Sparkling, Scandalous and Radiant, stay tuned for the swatches!

Jamberry Nail Wraps

Decided to try some new things this week now that the 31 day challenge is behind me. I've never had any experience with nail wraps before, so now seemed as good of a time as any to give it a go! There are a ton of nail wrap brands out there, but I decided to dip my toe in the water with this Turquoise and Silver Crosscross design by Jamberry Nail Shields.

Jamberry Nails - Turquoise & Silver Crisscross (CC02)

For having zero experience, I actually found these pretty easy to use! I have to admit that I didn't follow the directions exactly though. I sized each wrap to my finger, and cut the ends off first. I have medium length nails and I could easily get 2 uses out of the kit. The instructions said to use a blow dryer to heat each wrap for 5-10 seconds but I found that they didn't get tacky until around 20+ seconds, so I heated mine a bit longer.

Once they were sized and heated, it wasn't difficult to apply them. I didn't have any trouble with air bubbles or anything after using my other hand to smooth them. The final step was to file the tips to remove the extra wrap ends. The extra wrap didn't file off as easily as I'd hoped, and I accidentally filed a bit of one of my nails down - OOPS!

I kept the wraps on for 48 hours, and they held up nicely. Definitely going to try these again when I need an easy nail design in a hurry!

31 Day Challenge - Day 31 - Recreate A Favorite Challenge

 -Cookies 'N' Cream-

I can't believe it, the challenge is over! We are at the final day, and I have chosen the black and white challenge as my final look. I am a fan of anything cookies and cream, whether it's the delicious ice cream or this fun nail design.

Polishes used: China Glaze - White on White, Orly - Liquid Vinyl, Cover Band - Sticks 'N Stones

This look is so simple to create using both black and white polishes and the polish Sticks 'N Stones by Cover Band. This is one good coat of Sticks 'N Stones, where I used the brush to "push" the bits around. What a fun, spunky look!