Fall is here!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the gap in posting! I had a busy couple days because of homework, work, and all that fun stuff. Real life can be such a drag sometimes -_- Well ok...dramatic time is over! Time for polish! I got my package in the middle of the week, but couldn't open it due to me being away at school. So as you can imagine when I got home I tore into it! I was pleased to see a little black drawstring bag with my two polishes and a cherry blowpop, Model City Polish's little 'thank you' gift.

 

I was not pleased to see that my polish was wrapped up so tight in bubble wrap and foam that it took me a little extra time to get them open. Once that minor frustration passed, I realized it was a good thing because I didn't get smashed bottles and yucky dried nail polish. So thank goodness for that!

The first polish I decided to test out was the one I was most looking forward to...Fall Fest! I was a little nervous about it once I physically had the bottle in my hand because all the glitter had sunk down to one side and I couldn't get it to spread out. It seemed to not have a BB in it to help it mix up. (I realized later that it did.) However, once I opened it I realized that it wasn't much of a problem. The brush was able to pick enough of the glitter up.

This polish is a really sheer, soft brown so there is no way this is a one coat and done polish. I had to do two or three coats with a little bit of picking/placing to get the look I wanted with the small red, orange, yellow, and green hex glitter. This isn't a heavily packed polish compared to many of the other MCP polishes, but it works if you're going for a "falling leaves" look. It manages to capture the idea of Fall in a simple polish.

As far as "jelliness" goes, it doesn't show depth and layering quite as much as other polishes, which is a little bit of a bummer, but not enough to cause me to dislike it. In fact, I love it! I will be wearing it a lot this fall. I can tell already.

Once this mani begins to chip and wear down, I'll be testing out Seize the Rainbow!

xoxo

Strawberry Jam...yum!

Here it is...the review I said I would do a few posts back. Strawberry Jam by Model City Polish is the order of the day!

 This is a jam packed jellylicious glitter polish. The small red and silver glitter is suspended well in the polish. You can really see the layers and depth when it is painted on your nails...the sign of a great jelly! This polish is sheer, but could stand alone with one coat if done carefully to prevent streaks. The coats dry very quickly, so loading up the polish on the brush helps you spread out the glitter on the nail. However, with this polish there is no need for picking and placing.

I tell you the pictures do not do this sparkly polish justice! In sunlight, my nails shine like a disco ball! I swear I never get half as many compliments on my nails as I do when I wear this.

What you see here in the picture is three coats of the polish with a top coat. As with many glittery nail polishes, a bumpy surface is hard to avoid. I used a coat or two of my favorite top coat (usually Sephora UV top coat or Sally Hansen Hardener) to smooth things up! I think ending up with a smooth surface helps jellies show off the layers so much better! The polish is very thick, but not unmanageable at all. I definitely recommend the use of a base coat to make the removal a lot easier. Glitter is tough and likes to stick on everything!

If I had to give one thing that I did not like about this polish, I would have to say that it is how I have trouble making the polish by my cuticles not look weird. I have a hard time getting a nice look to it without having it end up wavy or strange looking. It is sort of hard to explain. However, that could simply be me simply being a perfectionist about my nail polish.

Like I mentioned before, I am currently waiting for two more MCP polishes to come in the mail. One of which is a fall themed jelly! So excited to try them out and review! Stay tuned to that! Shout out to Nina for her awesome work! Can't wait to see what else she comes out with!

xoxo

Attack of the mutant...nails?

Ugh...trimming and shaping nails is HARD.

I attempted to cut and file my nails on my own last night for the first time. They were a mismatch of short and long nails and an ugly sight to behold. So, I decided to face the music...it was time for an adjustment.

In the past, I'd simply head to a salon, get a mani/pedi, and be all set until my nails either broke or I gave in to that deadly sin...nail biting. I wasn't sure if any salons would just trim and shape my nails without polishing them. Now that nail art has become a hobby of mine, I don't see the point in getting a cookie cutter salon manicure with a flower or little gem that I could do myself. Sure, some places do *amazing* work and do create designs that are more "out there" but where is the fun of seeing your own work come together?

So I set out and gathered my meager group of tools, removed the sad remnants of my old polish (OPI Curve-acious for those who might be interested), and froze....what do I do next? Do I cut them then file? Or do I just file and hope for the best? I checked out a couple of resources online and found a couple that were very helpful! Lisa from nail-art-101.com has an awesome tutorial with an accompanying video! Her website is amazing as well so if you haven't been by...you are missing out!!

(nail buffer, nail clipper, Sephora glass nail file, Sally Hansen hardener top/base coat, Sephora polish remover)

The site that I used was called Getting Nails Into Shape an article from nailsmag.com. What I liked about it was the images that helped show how to file nails into different shapes. This site had everything from your basic square to a more exotic pointed nail! I'm more of a squoval girl myself.




(Image from nailsmag.com from left to right: pointed, oval, square, round and squoval)

So, I followed their directions and well...the nails came out ok-ish. Its a little more square than oval in the thumbs and the rest of the fingers could use more work, but all and all it wasn't bad for a first try. My main focus was really making them a similar length.

                                             (blurry picture of non dominant hand is blurry -_-)

On another note, I'd like to talk a little bit about my pictures that I'll be posting and about how...blah they will be for a bit. I do not have Photoshop at the moment and am limited to where I can take pictures. Alas, the life of a dorming college student! I will work on making them better and easier on the eyes, I promise! Also if any one has tips or tricks to share I'd be happy to hear them! I need advice on watermarking images and a few other things. I'll be happy to give you credit or even host a guest blog entry if you'd like to get the word out.

xoxo

Squeeee! New polish!

So excited to announce that I have just purchased two polishes from the wonderful Model City Polish on etsy! I currently own one polish from MCP and I love it to pieces. The way Nina does her jellies is amazing! Just the right amount of glitter so that there is even coverage all over the nail. None of that annoying picking and placing necessary! I also like that the polish I own (Strawberry Jam) isn't extremely sheer. I never have been a big fan of sheer polish. I think they are boring and don't have enough of a POP to them.

The first polish I ordered is called Fall Fest and it has me excited the most! It is a warm cocoa brown with red, orange, yellow, and green hex glitter. At the time of this post, there is only one left. So, I wonder if it'll be a limited edition polish or if more will be made. It looks beautiful in the pictures and makes me think of raking a big pile of crunchy leaves and jumping into it! I foresee myself wearing this a lot this fall!

Seize the Rainbow is the second MCP I ordered. It is a holographic topic coat which is 3 free (like other MCP polishes) and does not contain spectraflair (which is good since it is illegal and not recommended by the FDA.) I'm interested in seeing how this polish looks. I have a few effect topcoats, but nothing that could be really labeled holographic.

So, given my track record with MCP (however short it may be), I have high hopes for Seize the Rainbow and Fall Fest. I highly recommend giving them, and the rest of the MCP collection, a look.

xoxo

Shamless self post

The wonderful people over at Birchbox are currently holding a contest where the winner gets a whopping 100 polishes from Color Club! Now let me just say, that is freaking amazing! So naturally, I gave it a whirl. I'm probably really late in the submission because the contest ends soon (eep!) but hey, no risk no reward! Hm...did I make that up or is it a real quote from somewhere...

Any who, here is my submission.

Here is the link where you can vote for me if you like it :)


Please excuse my messiness and terrible watermark! Advice is always welcome!!

 xoxo

edit:
I did not win, despite having a whopping 3 votes! Aww shucks! :( There's always next time!

Not another nail polish blog...

Hello! I am another nail polish obsessed lacquered loser! I started this blog to document my adventures in seeking out polish perfections! Here's a little about myself:
I am a 21 year old starving college student...starving because I spend all my money on nail polish. My family and friends have begun calling nail polish my drug. Which may or may not be true...>_<
I have recently begun to explore the wonderful world of indie polish. I currently have only one from the very wonderful etsy shop, Model City Polish, which I'm sure I will talk about in another post. I'm hoping to broaden my indie polish collection over the upcoming months.
My current polish collection stands at around 80 or so. Most are old, practically ancient, and a few are from newer collections.
Essie and OPI are some of my favorite brands!
I follow around eight nail art blogs, so a lot of my ideas will come from them. I promise that I will link to them, but on the off chance I forget if someone lets me know I can remedy the situation.
I'm hoping to one day be able to write reviews about different kinds of polishes, from indie to mainstream.
Thanks a ton for taking the time to read my blog! Stick around for more to come! :)

xoxo