ABC Challenge: "O"

We are on the letter O for the Alphabet Challenge.  I don't have very many polishes that start with the letter O.  I have a few oranges but I just wasn't feeling orange for this one.  I actually picked the non-orange polish I have, put it on, took pictures, edited the pictures...and I just was not happy with it.  Then when I was getting ready to put together the blog post with the mani that I wasn't crazy about, a little light bulb went off in my head....Ombre!  I have done this in the past although not on the blog and I really love it.  I decided to go with blues for this.

Now for an ombre, there is a method where you take one color that is on the darker side and you custom mix each nail using white.  So lets say you took a vampy red.  This would be your darkest color.  Then you'd take some of that vampy red and add a little bit of white to it on some sort of mixing surface.  Then for the next nail do the same with a little more white.  Then you continue making it more pale until you get the desired color for each nail.  This probably makes a more true ombre.

The way I did it was I picked a dark blue and a light blue, and then I picked the rest of the in-between colors that I thought fit in.  Onto the photos!

If you are wondering, the colors I used were Hard Candy Sky, Essie Bikini so Teeny, Sally Girl Epic, Essie Mezmerised, and China Glaze First Mate.

What do you think about this type of manicure?

ABC Challenge: "N"

Well, we are a little bit past the halfway point of the Alphabet Challenge.  I have absolutely loved doing this challenge so far.  It has given me a chance to use polishes in my collection that I otherwise would not have.  I always have been gravitated towards newer polishes to feature in my blog.

For some reason, I don't have many polishes that start with the letter N so this one was really easy for me to pick.  I picked Butter London No More Waity, Katie.  Butter London describes this as a soft lilac glitter.  This polish is gorgeous!  The glitter just makes it almost glow!

In the past, I have layered this.  I think I layered it over Zoya Caitlin but this time I wanted to try it on it's own.  I think I actually prefer it this way.  For the pictures below, this is three coats of No More Waity, Katie with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

This last photo is indoors with flash.  

ABC Challenge: "M"

I am so excited for the letter M today.  I have a very special polish for today.  I had really been wanting this particular polish and I had set out to set up a swap to get it.  I also had posted on my Facebook page, really for conversation reasons, that I had a sudden urge to have this polish in my life.  Someone I have gotten to know through a beauty group I belong to responded.  She had wanted to just surprise me and sent it to me but then she was worried I was going to set up a swap before it could get to me...which very likely could have happened as I was on a mission.  I am so completely grateful and taken aback by this particular person's generosity!  It was so kind!  Well, it is the infamous OPI Mad as a Hatter and I absolutely love it!  I am so happy it has made it's way to my collection.

I had originally thought about layering this but I wanted to show off it's glittery goodness.  This is three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.  It is surprisingly smooth for being three coats of a dense glitter.

ABC Challenge: "L"

Today I have the letter L for the Alphabet Challenge.  I have been waiting to put on this particular polish just for this challenge.  This is Sinful Colors Leap Flog.  I think it is a newer color and may be limited edition.  It was in the Study In Style display.  Leap Flop is a dusty green-blue.  It is definitely more green.  This is my kind of color.  This applied amazing and was two coats.  Sinful, of course has some misses as do many brands, but don't underestimate the price.  They go on sale at Walgreens periodically for 99 cents a bottle!

This last picture is indoors while the first two are outside in the sun.

Woohoo!!! Giveaway Time; 100 GFC Followers

When I started this blog, I didn't even know if I was going to stick with it due to all the things I have going on in my life.  I am so happy that I have stuck with it.  I want to give a big thank you to all of you that are followers.  As I have said in previous posts, I wanted to do a giveaway when I hit 100 followers and I am happy to say that day has come!  I have been collecting polish for a while now in anticipation of this day.

This giveaway is going to have three winners.  One bigger winner and two smaller winners.

The first winner will receive the following:  Revlon Whimsical; Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air dupe,  Revlon Scandalous (previously Facets of Fuchsia) which is a dupe to Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance, Revlon Starry Pink which has been re-released as Popular,  Essie Mojito Madness which you can see HERE, Jessica Iridescent Eye which is one of several Chanel Peridot dupes, see my post about it HERE,   Orly Fowl Play which you can see HERE, Sinful Colors Leap Flog.

This is Prize Pack 1

The second winner will get Sinful Colors Winterberry, Sinful Colors Leap Flog, Sinful Colors Cinderella amd Maybelline Color Show Denim Dash.

This is Prize Pack 2

The third winner will get Sinful Colors Leap Flog and Winterberry and Spoiled Distant Memory which you can see HERE 

This is Prize Pack 3

The giveaway will run through August 23rd.  Good luck and thank you again for following!  It means the world to me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABC Challenge: "K"

Today I have for you the letter K in the Alphabet Challenge.  I was excited for this one as I knew exactly which polish I wanted to use.  I had picked up several polishes from the China Glaze On Safari collection.  I had seen several swatches of Kalahari Kiss and knew I needed to have it.  Well....I don't think I like it on me.  I think it leans too yellow for my skin tone.  I'm kind of bummed but I can always swap it to someone who actually wants it.  Due to the fact that I didn't like how it looked on me, I wanted to spice it up somehow.  I decided to add a glitter polish that I have yet to try from Icing called Teal Me I'm Awesome.  This is the second glitter polish I've tried from Icing and I'm quite impressed.  I only needed one coat of top coat and it was smooth.  I actually liked the combo together but I'm just not a fan of Kalahari Kiss by itself on me.  Maybe it's due to me just wearing a more nude polish yesterday and I'm nuded (yes, I'm making up words!) out.  Enough of my whining!

What are your thoughts?  Do you think it looks better layered?

ABC Challenge: "J" (Plus Comparison)

We are at the letter "J" for the Alphabet Challenge.  I also have a comparison within this post.  I chose Essie Jazz for this post and when looking at my other Essie polishes, I noticed that Sand Tropez is very similar.  I decided I would also do a comparison post on these two.  They are both really nice nudes.  Sand Tropez is is one of my go-to nudes.

When it comes to dupes, I am pretty particular and I think something should only be deemed as a dupe if it is exactly the same in quality and character.  That being said, I do not believe the Jazz and Sand Tropez are dupes.  That would be kind of silly for the same company to have two identical polishes with two different names anyway, although I'm sure it's been done.  I do think if you have one, you don't really need the other.  But me being an Essie lover and on top of it a nude lover, I am happy I have both.

For the actually manicure with Jazz, I decided to "jazz it up" a little (go ahead and roll your eyes, I don't mind!) with Essie As Gold as it Gets.

Jazz is just a tad darker.

Do you need both based on this picture?  Probably not!

This is just Jazz

Jazz with As Gold as it Gets layered.