Swatch Spam!

Hey there!
Today I am kind of going through my archive of swatches and talking about the polishes that I swatched and took pictures of but never posted about.  I have to let y'all know that my posts will be mainly older nail art things for a while.  This is due to the fact that I broke the nail on my middle finger this week.  Not just a little crack.  Half the nail is gone.  I won't be painting that nail for a while, so I won't be able to swatch for a while.  Anyway, on to the post!

 First,we have OPI Brand New Skates.  This is from a really old holiday collection.  It is a dark grey with multicolored sparkles.  I think this a pretty color, but the formula is a little thin for my taste.  It took a good two/three coats to get the solid color in the picture.  I added little snowflakes in the corner with my Kiss glitter polish.

 Next up, Essie Leading Lady.  This is from the 2012 Holiday collection.  It is a red with red glitter.  I like this one because it is a darker red.  Bright reds don't really work on my skin tone.  I also like that the glitter is not as hard to get off as most glitters. I used two coats for this swatch.

 This one is Butter London Dodgy Barnett. It is a silver holographic.  What I like about this polish is that it is it is holographic but not too linear.  I find that sometimes super linear holos can get a little distracting.  The downside to this one is that it takes about three coats to get a solid color.  It is beautiful, and definitely worth getting!

Last but not least, Zoya Charla.  This is a beautiful turquoise color with green shimmer. I love this color! This is the kind of color that I am always reaching for in stores.  The only downside to this one is that it stained my nails a bit when I took it off.  Other than that I had no problems with this polish.  I used two coats for these pictures.

So that's it for my first swatch spam! I hope y'all enjoyed, and have a terrific Tuesday!
~ Mary Elizabeth

My New Obsession: Holographic!

Hello Everyone!
I hope you are having a lovely week.  I am officially done with high school, and I am so excited!  Not only does this mean that I am heading off to college soon, but it also means that I will have more time to blog over the summer!  I can't wait to get more cute nail looks out to y'all.  Anyway, today's post is about a super cool new nail polish I got at Ulta the other day.  It is a really cool holographic.  One thing I have noticed is that good holos are really hard to find, and when you do find them they are really expensive.  Layla Holographic Effects, however, is available at Ulta for $15.  I know that may sound like a lot, but compared to polishes that you have to order online, that's not bad. The color I got is called Mercury Twilight.  I also bought the little buffer thing that they tell you to buy.  It was only like $2, so i didn't mind.  Anyway, I did a little experiment to determine whether you really need that little buffer thing.

So for this little experiment I used a different technique on each finger.  On my index finger I just buffed my nail with the little buffer thing and applied the polish.  On my middle finger I used the buffer and a base coat.  On my ring finger I used nothing; no base coat or buffing.  On my pinky I used just a base coat.  And finally, on my thumb I used just the buffer, applied the polish, and used a top coat.  All fingers have two coats of polish.  I think, based on the pictures, it's pretty obvious that just using the little buffer thing and not applying a top coat worked best.  All the other methods were clumpy, streaky, and not worth trying.  If you decide to get this polish from Ulta, definitely get the buffer.

So here's what the polish looks like in the sunlight.  It is absolutely AMAZING!  I love the fact that it is a silver, but there are also lots of other colors embedded in it.  There are two downsides though.  1. Because using a topcoat will take away from the holo, it chips pretty quickly.  This was a little disappointing, but it isn't bad enough to make me not use it.  2. I kept getting really distracted by the fact that my nails kept changing color.  This isnt a huge deal, but it's something to keep in mind.  Overall I really like these, and I plan to buy other colors.  I hope y'all enjoyed this post, and have a terrific Thursday!
~ Mary Elizabeth