Saturday, March 31, 2012

Blue Glitta!

Hey y'all!
If you haven't noticed, I have been loving glitter lately! I decided to do something funky (for me) and go blue.  Here's what I did!

Ok, from now on I'm not going to tell you about the base coat.  I think you can figure that out for yourselves.  So for the base color I used OPI No Room for the Blues.  This really only takes one coat, but I used two.  Then for the glitter I used two coats of OPI Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry collection.  This is a pretty blue glitter, but by itself it's pretty sheer.  Then I finished off with two coats of Seche Vite so that I didn't get that gritty texture that glitter often has.  I hope this inspires you to use fun colors more often! Have a super Saturday and Sunday!
~ Mary Elizabeth
PS I hope to get a better camera soon, so my pictures should improve soon!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Easy Tape Manicure

Hello There!
I hope you are having a lovely week!  So this morning I went to CVS to get a new bottle Seche Vite top coat, which was much needed, and I ran into Essie's new collection.  All of the colors are beautiful, but the one that caught my eye was A Crewed Interest.

A Crewed Interest is the base color for this design.  It is a really nice peach color.  Before recently, I was not a huge fan of Essie polishes because of the small brush.  However, I really like the pigmentation in most of their polishes.  This particular polish is definitely a one coater!  I really love this polish!
As for the rest of this look, I actually did NOT start with OPI top coat.  I am trying out Essie Grow Stronger strengthening base coat.  I will do a full review on this after I have used it for a while.  Then I used one coat of Essie A Crewed Interest.  Then I put a piece of scotch tape diagonally across my nail and used Essie Tart Deco to make a diagonal stripe.  When I originally bought Tart Deco, I thought it would look more like A Crewed Interest.  Even though it's not what I expected, it is a gorgeous color!  For the middle gold stripe I used my Kiss gold glitter polish.  This is a great way to cover up any mistakes from removing the tape.  Then i finished it off with Seche Vite.  I hope you try this out, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Monday, March 26, 2012

A Yay and a Nay

Good Morning lovelies!
This morning I have two polishes that I want to review.  On Saturday I went to Ulta and bought two nail polishes, China Glaze Flying Dragon and Zoya Sarah.  I really only intended to by Flying Dragon, but I ended up picking up Sarah as well.  When I got home I tried them out, and I found that i only like one of them.  It was a little bit disappointing, but hey, you've gotta get a few duds to find things you really like!

Let's start with the yay! This is Zoya Sarah.  I don't usually buy red nail polishes, but the name caught me because Sarah is my sister's name!  I actually ended up loving this one.  I like that it is a darker red and not as bright and gaudy as most reds I've tried.  There is a little bit of gold shimmer, too.  I am really glad I bought this. 

Now on to the nay.  This is China Glaze Flying Dragon.  The second picture is more accurate to the color.  The problem I have with this polish is that the color is not as bright as I wanted.  It turned out to be more of a darker purple than a bright, vibrant purple.  Also, the texture is kind of a gritty matte.  I like matte polish, but not when it looks chunky and gritty.  It's kind of funny that the polish I intended on buying turned out to be the one I didn't like.  Oh well!
I hope you enjoyed this comparison, and have a fabulous week!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Stamping Reviews

Hey y'all!
So today I want to talk about a few new products that I have bought lately.  I used both of them in this nail look.

So for this look I started with OPI base coat.  Then I used OPI Midnight in Moscow.  This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE POLISH!!  Then I used Bundle Monster stamping plate bm21 with Sally Hansen Color Quick in Sand Shimmer.  It only gives a sheer, subtle color when used for stamping, but that might not be the case for all of the colors.  This is the only one I've used, so I don't really know.  As far I using the Color Quicks for regular nail polish, I don't recommend them.  They are super streaky.  Now, I want to talk about the Bundle Monster plates. I got mine on amazon.com.  I love the variety of patterns.  The only problem I have with them is the size of the full patterns.  They are a little too small for my nails.  That won't keep me from using them, though! I am definitely glad I bought them! I hope you liked this post, and I hope you have a marvelous Monday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Polka Dot Party

Hey everybody!
So recently I made a rather large (for me) order on amazon.com.  I haven't been able to do a post on the things I got, but I have posts planned in which I will feature things individually.  One of the things I got is a set of dotting tools.  I decided to try them yesterday.  Here's how it turned out!

I began, of course, with my OPI base coat.  Then I applied two coats of OPI Mermaid's Tears.  This was from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection, but I'm pretty sure it's still available.  The colors I used for the polka dots is OPI Alpine Snow.  To apply the polka dots I used a dotting tool, but you can use a toothpick instead.  I like the dotting tools because I don't have to keep buying toothpicks, but you don't have to go buy dotting tools to achieve this design.  I finished with my SV top coat.  I hope you will try this out! It is super simple, and you can substitute these colors for whatever colors you want.  I hope y'all enjoyed this, and have a super Sunday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Super Cool New Polish!

Hey y'all!
So last weekend my sister and I went to Sephora, and I realized that i had a gift card! i didn't originally plan on buying anything, but then I saw Nail Inc. magnetic polish.  I have read lots of reviews and seen lots of pictures, so I figured I would try it myself.  By the way, the color is Houses of Parliment
 This is what the polish looks like with one coat with no magnetization.  Even before using the magnet it is a pretty color.  To do the magnet thing, paint one coat to get a base color.  The next step will need to be done one finger at a time.  Paint another coat and then hold the magnet on top of the cap over your nail for about 20 seconds.  Do this for all nails. 


That smudge on my middle finger is what happens you hit your wet nails with the magnet!
Overall I think this is a really cool idea! I really like the sort of iridescent quality in between the shades brought by the magnetism.  The only downside: it is a bit time consuming.  Other than that I think this is a nice quality polish.  I hope to try other colors.  I also might try magnetics of other brands.  I would recommend this polish to anyone! I hope you enjoyed this post, and have a wonderful Wednesday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Monday, March 19, 2012

Happy (late) St. Patrick's Day! + Update

Hey There!
I fel like I say this every time, but I'm sorry for not blogging lately.  This weekend I was at Thespian State competition.  It is a drama competition where troupes from schools all over the state perform pieces to be judged.  I performed in a large group musical, and we got a superior!  Anyway, on to today's topic: St. Patrick's Day manicure! I was in a hotel when I did this, but I think it turned out pretty good!

As usual, OPI base coat.  Then I used OPI Uh-oh, Roll Down the Window.  This is a mossy, brownish green.  In the bottle, this polish looks gross, but it is actually a nice color.  Next i used Essie Shine of the Times.  I blogged about this a few weeks ago.  I still love it :) I decided to try it over green, and it worked quite nicely.  I finished with SV top coat.  I hope y'all enjoy this look, and I hope you try it for yourself.  I also hope you will forgive me for not being around lately.  I will have some fun reviews soon!
~ Mary Elizabeth
PS thought I'd give you a glimpse of State :)
me and my friend Cailah at state!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

My ghetto acrylics look :)

Hey there!
Before i begin, let me just say that this is my first post from my phone, so we'll see how this goes :) So yesterday I decided to do my nails using scotch tape. I saw a picture on pinterest similar to this, and I thought it was worth a try. When I got finished, I realized that on me it looked like some ghetto acrylics :)
So to start I used base coat. Then I applied one coat of Orly "kiss the bride" and waited about 5 minutes for it to dry. I probably should have waited a little longer, but that's beside the point. Next I placed a piece of scotch tape diagonally across my nails and used Sinful Colors' "black on black". For the other half of the v shape I just kinda free handed it (I got lazy). For the blue I used OPI "austintacious turquoise". I used a silver glitter for the little dot. Then I finished with SV top coat. So this didn't really work for me, but maybe it will be better for you! I hope you have a terrific Tuesday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Edgy Glitter!

Hey everybody!
So today's manicure is what I consider an edgy way to wear glitter.  I know it may not be edgy to most people, but i hardly ever wear black, so it's edgy to me :)

For this I started with OPI base coat.  Then I used Sinful Colors Black on Black for the base color.  I love this polish because it only takes one coat to get a solid, even color.  Then I used Sephora by OPI Spark-tacular!  This is super cool because it has just about every color glitter you could ask for! Finally I used Seche Vite top coat so that the glitter doesn't get caught on things.  That is one reason I used to never wear glitter nail polish: it would catch on things and snag.
So I hope you all enjoyed this post, and have a wonderful rest of the week!
~ Mary Elizabeth

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Update 3/4/12

Hey everybody!
Just wanted to update you guys on my life.  So lately I have gotten to lead worship at a church near me.  I have made some of the most fantastic friends in this process.  I love them so much and I am so blessed to have them! I'm also excited to get to use the talents God has given me for his glory.  Last weekend (when I posted my matte review) I auditioned for a scholarship at the college I am going to.  It was a really great experience, and I met some of the people that may be future classmates of mine.  I hope I get the opportunity to play my flute to praise my Savior at this college.  As far as the blog goes, I have a very exciting post coming up, but I have to wait a day or so.  You'll find out why when i post it ;) So I hope that gave you a little more insight into my life as of now.  I will be back to regular posts soon! Also, let me know if y'all would like more of these types of posts.  Have a fabulous week!
~ Mary Elizabeth