Spice Girls Nail Art!

May 11, 2013, 4:41 pm

≫ Next: Ikat Nail Art

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Well, it's time for us to come out of another proverbial closet. Since high school, T and I have been not-so-secret fans of the Spice Girls. In our hearts we know they are really cheesy and utterly manufactured, but we don't care, we still love them and sing their songs all the time (especially when under the influence of adult substances.) Since day one of starting this blog I have been putting together ideas to pay homage to this semi-shameful remnant of my childhood. So without further ado, I bring you; The Spice Girls manicure!

• Index is Posh Spice: Sleek and black, just like posh would wear. Any accoutraments would just decrease the posh-ness of it all. Wet N Wild Black Creme.

• Middle is Scary Spice: Golden sparkly leopard print? You know she would. It loses some of its tackiness value in the picture, but it is seriously adorable in person. I would wear this as a full manicure if I'm ever feeling that level of tack. O.P.I Goldeneye with Wet N Wild Black Creme Stamp

• Ring is Baby Spice: Confetti Dance Party Pink and Sally Hansen Whirlwind White topped with flocking powder. Inspired by this outfit the chunky french tip is supposed to pay homage to her chunky heels (Never had a pair, I had to live vicariously through the girls in my grade D:)
  
  
• Pinky is Sporty Spice: Adidas track pants are quintessential Sporty Spice and frostbite is the perfect kind boyish color she would wear. China Glaze Frostbite with Sally Hansen Whirlwind White stripes.
• Thumb is, of course, Ginger Spice. I almost wanted to buck the norms and not use a Union Jack for Ginger, but at the end of the day, that dress will be the iconic look from that era. Who am I to resist history? The red is China Glaze Ruby Deer, the white is Sally Hansen Whirlwind White, and the blue is China Glaze Frostbite.

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Ikat Nail Art

May 13, 2013, 5:02 pm

≫ Next: Mint, Coral, and Gold Herringbone Nail Art

≪ Previous: Spice Girls Nail Art!

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Finally gave ikat nails a try! This was surprisingly easy. I want to do this in a bunch more color combinations!

Yellow  is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Butterscotch (I swear, I can't get over this polish. I may need a (gasp!) backup!)
Orange is China Glaze Life Preserver
Brown is L'Oreal Brownie Points
Cream (in the center) is Yellow  is Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dune

Mint, Coral, and Gold Herringbone Nail Art

May 15, 2013, 11:03 am

≫ Next: Ginkgo Leaf Nail Art

≪ Previous: Ikat Nail Art

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 I finally got the hang of the herringbone nail art I've been seeing everywhere. Such a cute look! Decided to spruce up my plain old mint green mani with an accent nail featuring mint, coral, and gold. I love these colors together! All the tutorials I saw suggested just using the polish brush, but I could not get enough control that way. I just switched to a nail art brush and had a much better time of it.

Mint is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mint Sorbet

Gold is Orly Luxe

Coral is China Glaze Paechy Keen

Ginkgo Leaf Nail Art

May 17, 2013, 5:30 pm

≫ Next: Urban Outfitters Sea Dust

≪ Previous: Mint, Coral, and Gold Herringbone Nail Art

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Quick post today, ginkgo leaf nail art! Did these the other day, because I love the shape of ginkgo leaves, and K thought they were parsley! 

Urban Outfitters Sea Dust

May 20, 2013, 2:51 pm

≫ Next: Sunflower Nail Art

≪ Previous: Ginkgo Leaf Nail Art

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Another quick one today, Urban Outfitters Sea Dust, which I bought along with the silver holo polish a few weeks ago. This polish features  aqua glitter and a bit of larger holographic glitter.I got this solely because I love polishes that reference or remind me of mermaids. I learned later it was a supposed dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Mermaid's Dream. As someone who lacks the funds to EVER spend the money for Deborah Lippmann polish, woohoo!

Sunflower Nail Art

May 22, 2013, 9:11 am

≫ Next: Blue Cross Mardi Gras from Rite Aid

≪ Previous: Urban Outfitters Sea Dust

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When I was younger I was obsessed with sunflowers. I had jewlery and t-shirts and posters and sheets with these guys on it. I even had one of those floppy Blossom hats with a big sunflower on the brim. You know what I'm talking about, right?

"I'm a huge fan of your work! I loved you in Pocahontas!"

A few years ago, I studied abroad in Cortona, Italy and got the chance to frolic in a field of sunflowers! I have never been so excited, it was like meeting a celebrity. 

More info and pics after the cut!

~DRAMA~ Red is China Glaze Rougish Red (one of my favorite reds, so bright and summery!) Yellow Is Sally Hansen Butterscotch Dark Brown Is L'Oreal Brownie Points Light Brown is Color Club Charity Ball

Blue Cross Mardi Gras from Rite Aid

May 24, 2013, 1:36 pm

≫ Next: Sinful Colors Sail La Vie/Ahoy There Collection Review and Comparisons (Summer 2013)

≪ Previous: Sunflower Nail Art

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I saw these random Mardi Gras (made by Blue Cross, the same folks who bring us snowman and pumpkin polishes every year) polishes at Rite Aid and had to keep myself from buying them all. There are a bunch of really pretty glitters, but I limited myself and just got this one. It doesn't have a name, sadly, it just says Mardi Gras on the bottom, as did all the others. It's a gorgeous teal with blue, green, and purple shimmers. Unfortunately, it's a bit sheer, as you can see in the picture above. I love it so much that I'll forgive the VNL, but I also had to try layering it just to see what it would look like. I took a ton of pics, hoping to capture it's beauty. It's like a lighter version of China Glaze Watermelon Rind.

This shot and the others below are all layered over China Glaze Four Leaf Clover.

Sinful Colors Sail La Vie/Ahoy There Collection Review and Comparisons (Summer 2013)

May 27, 2013, 1:32 pm

≫ Next: China Glaze First Class Ticket

≪ Previous: Blue Cross Mardi Gras from Rite Aid

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Saw the new Sinful Colors Ahoy There collection at Rite Aid and picked up all the new shades. I don't know why Sinful Colors does this, but this collection is called "Sail La Vie" at Walgreens and has a totally different display. They did the same thing with the Poparazzi/Almost Famous collection. Annoying!

The collection has five new releases with cute nautical themed names, and three repromotes (Snow Me White, Cross My Heart, and Out Of This World). . I love a blue creme, which most of these are, and Sinfuls are always a steal at $1.99!

First up is my personal fave, Sinful Anchors Away, a bright yellow-orange. It's exact shade of the powdered "cheese" from Kraft Macaroni N Cheese. This shade is thisclose to being a neon, but the formula was much easier to use than neons usually are. Creamy and opaque in 3 coats. No need for undies! I love this color, so cheery and perfect for summer!

Read on for more shades and comparisons!

I didn't have anything quite like this shade, in hue OR in formula. The closest I had was China Glaze Sun Worshipper, which is definitely more neon (needs a white base!) and bright, and needed four coats. The next was Wet N Wild Sunny Side Up, which also needed four coats and wasn't nearly as bright and saturated.

Next up is the collection's namesake, Sinful Sail La Vie. This is fairly standard periwinkle blue creme with an almost invisible shimmer, similar to those in the Sugar Rush collection. I tried to capture it in one of the shots below, but didn't even notice the shimmer until I was in bright sunlight. This one took two coats.

Despite not being an entirely ground breaking color, I didn't have too much to compare this one to. It's bluer and more saturated than most of my periwinkles. Essie Bikini So Teeny is far too light, and Orly Snowcone is blue, darker, and muter. 

Sinful New Wave is a muted navy blue creme. I like this shade, it's a bit murky and denim-like. I'll probably want tow ear it more during the fall though. Two coats.

I was a little worried this was going to be a dupe for Sinful Rain Storm, but it's much darker. It was fairly close to OPI I Saw...U Saw...We Saw...Warsaw (what an annoying name!), just a bit dustier.

Sinful My Buoyfriend (Such a cute name, OPI take note!) is a really pretty blurple creme. I love this kind of color, and this is the first time I've found it in a creme! Two coats.

As I said above, I don't own anything like this in a creme, but it's almost exactly the same base color as China Glaze Fancy Pants!

Finally is Sinful Into The Blue, a super rich royal blue creme. This was almost a one coater! 

If Into The Blue looks familiar, it may be because it's almost an exact dupe for OPI Eurso Euro. Into The Blue is just a leeetle bit deeper. So if you never got a chance to pick up Eurso Eruo (or if the new $9 price tag is a bit too much for you...) this is a great alternative!

So that was a lot of blue! Between this and the new Maybelline Color Shows, I think I'm set for blue cremes!

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China Glaze First Class Ticket

May 28, 2013, 12:43 pm

≫ Next: Green Creme Ombre Manicure

≪ Previous: Sinful Colors Sail La Vie/Ahoy There Collection Review and Comparisons (Summer 2013)

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Random swatch from months ago, trying to clear through my backlog. China Glaze First Class Ticket is one from way back (omg, four whole years ago!) when I was kind of a a polish newbie, and China Glaze's Vintage Vixen was the first collection I really remember getting really excited about. First class ticket is a super dark purple shimmer and was one of my first vampies. This one is a stunner in the sun, but still obviously purple (not black!) inside. Love the whole collection, really.

Green Creme Ombre Manicure

June 1, 2013, 3:52 pm

≫ Next: Gold, Purple, and Black Lightning Bolt French Tip

≪ Previous: China Glaze First Class Ticket

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I knew I wanted to wear a green creme, and couldn't decide on which one...so this is my solution! This is a fun manicure for when I want something interesting, but don't feel up to real nail art. The most time consuming part is figuring out the polish line up! 

More pics and a list of polishes used after the cut!

Thumb is China Glaze Electric Pineapple
Index is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green With Envy
Middle is NYC High Line Green
Ring is China Glaze Starboard
Pinkie is China Glaze Holly-Day

Gold, Purple, and Black Lightning Bolt French Tip

June 7, 2013, 10:21 am

≫ Next: OPI Warm And Fozzie

≪ Previous: Green Creme Ombre Manicure

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 Quick post today, I've been super busy lately! My mani was looking a bit rough, as you can see from above, but I was still in love with the color. China Glaze Gothic Lolita is from last years Electropop collection, a fun purple with bright fuchsia shimmer.

This was a perfect oppotunity to take advantage of a totally dry mani and do some scotch tape nail art! I used Nailside's tutorial for this lightning bolt french tip and used Orly Luxe for the gold and China Glaze Midtown Magic for the black.

OPI Warm And Fozzie

June 8, 2013, 11:12 am

≫ Next: New 2013 Core Finger Paints from Sally Beauty Swatches and Review

≪ Previous: Gold, Purple, and Black Lightning Bolt French Tip

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Another one in the backlog, but definitely a favorite from the OPI Holiday 2011 Muppets Collection! OPI Warm and Fozzie is one of those hard to describe multi-toned foils. It has a mix of gold, bronze, and pinky copper shimmer. I love it, and the name is pretty perfect. Also, I relate to Fozzie Bear quite a bit since I feel that many people do not fully appreciate my sophisticated sense of humor. I was super excited by this collection since I love the Muppets, but actually did not end up getting nearly as many as I planned. They sold out so fast so I ended up having to get this one on eBay. This is three coats, and I had to wait a bit in between each one so it didn't get gunky. Worth the effort, though!

New 2013 Core Finger Paints from Sally Beauty Swatches and Review

June 10, 2013, 5:18 pm

≫ Next: Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Nail Art with Googly Eyes!

≪ Previous: OPI Warm And Fozzie

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Picked up some of the new Finger Paints that have been added to the core collection for 2013! These are replacing some of the recently discontinued shades, and actually fill a gap in the core collection, which lacked a selection of glittery top coats. I believe this brand is only available at Sally Beauty Supply, and it's a shame that this brand doesn't get more hype! They have some pretty awesome shades.

Aside from the ones I got, there  was an uninspiring pink, peach, lime green, and another glitter top coat that is suspiciously similar to the sparkle top coat they had for the 2012 holiday season. I may have to do some detective work and smuggle my bottle in to do some comparisons.

Swatches after the cut!

Finger Paints Colorful Collage is super blingy mix of small and large holo hex glitter in a clear base. Nothing groundbreaking, but VERY sparkly, this photo was taken when it was a bit over cast, and I can still see the rainbows in the glitter. Swatched here over Wet N Wild Black Creme, this is only one coat. I bet it could be built up for extra sparkle.

Finger Paints Hue Brighten My Day is gonna be perfect for the holidays, it's a fairly unique mix of silver, green, turqoise and purple hex glitter in a dark green jelly base packed with silver micro glitter. I love the combo, and especially being able to add a non-dupe green glitter to my collection! Two coats, but this was rather hungry for top coat.

Finger Paints Van Gogh's Violet is a fun mix of hol hex glitter and fuchsia microglitter in a clear base. There is also some  sparse pink bar glitter, and you can see on near the tip of my middle figer above. 

An additonal shot because I love the holo explosio on my thumb.

 Finger Paints Peacock's Portrait is a appropriately named mix of large turquoise hex glitter and smaller purple, teal, and silver holo hex glitter in a clear base.The reflections really do have a peacock feather's color scheme going on. This is two coats.

And finally, Finger Paints Vintage Vincent. This is fun teal with silvery shimmer. I was sure I had something dupey to this, but it's actually very different from everything similarly hued. Amazing formula, almost a one coater and super smooth. It did dry a bit matte though, so I don't recommend skipping top coat. Also, don't skip base coat (like I did, eep!), this one stains like crazy!

***Edit***

Oh my gosh, how could I forget???

There's a promotion at Sally's right now where if you buy two of the new Finger Paints, you get this set of two silicone slap watch bands. I could not stop laughing when the sales lady told me about it.

Not really my style, but hey, free watch and even freer nostalgia for slap bracelets. My school had to ban them, because the metal bits would start to poke through the fabric and cut people.

Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Nail Art with Googly Eyes!

June 13, 2013, 8:51 am

≫ Next: Fresh Paint and Funky Fingers Haul from Five Below

≪ Previous: New 2013 Core Finger Paints from Sally Beauty Swatches and Review

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This post serves two purposes. One, to let you know that I've updated my Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat post to include the two missing shades, Tight Knit and All Yarned Up as well as a comparison.

The second reason is to post the whole reason I love these polishes in the first place:

They make a great base for googly eyes!!!

I love these little guys, and it makes me laught that my first foray into 3D nail art consists of the same googley eyes I used to use in grade school. Hee! My fave part if that my ring and pinky strongly remind me of Sully and Mike (Mike Wazowski!) from Monsters, Inc. I know what I'm wearing to the new Monsters University movie when it comes out!




I love these little guys, and it makes me laugh that my first foray into 3D nail art consists of the same googley eyes I used to use in grade school. Hee! My fave part if that my ring and pinky strongly remind me of Sully and Mike (Mike Wazowski!) from Monsters, Inc. I know what I'm wearing to the new Monsters University movie when it comes out!

Pointer is China Glaze Heli-Yum with Sally Hansen All Yarned Up
Middle is China Glaze Flying Highwith Sally Tight Knit
Ring is China Glaze Grape Pop with Sally Hansen Fuzz-Sea
Pinky is China Glaze Gaga for Green with Sally Hansen Fuzzy Fantasy
Thumb is China Glaze Peachy Keen with Sally Hansen Wool Knot

Fresh Paint and Funky Fingers Haul from Five Below

June 14, 2013, 3:21 pm

≫ Next: Father's Day Nail Art

≪ Previous: Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat Nail Art with Googly Eyes!

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I went to a Five Below for the first time a few days ago and was super excited by all the fun (and cheap!) polishes they had! All of these were 3 for $5, and I'm happy to report were worth every penny. I'm definitely going to head back and see what else they have!

First off, is Fresh Paint Honeydew, an impossible to photograph shade. It's some cross between a pastel and a neon, and is super bright and fun. The name is perfect, this is atomic honey dew melon. Formula pretty great considering the shade/finish, this took three coats. It also dried a bit matte and I used topcoat to remedy that.

Next up from Fresh Paint in Nebula, a gorgeous red-violet shimmer. This is going to be amazing for  fall. I love plumy shades like this, it reminds me of a more vibrant version of OPI Tease-y Does It. This is three coats.

Funky Fingers Mrs. Mint is a green leaning mint with subtle golden shimmer. This is along the lines of Chanel Jade and all it's impersonators from a couple years back. Still a pretty concept though! This was a bit of a pain to apply, it was both thick and streaky. Three coats.

Funky Fingers Mermaid Lagoon adds to my obsession with mermaid themed polish! This is a mix of blue microglitter, mid-sized purple hex glitter, and large holo hex glitter. I can't seem to get enough of these fun glitter combos, lately! This swatch is two coats over China Glaze Aquadelic (I just got this one, too. I'm so late!)

Funky Fingers Mood Ring is a pretty shimmery duo-chrome that shifts from blue to green to gold. I love this one! So gorgeous, and the color shift is so strong. This can look like several different polishes depending on the light. Three coats.

Finally, Funky Fingers Pink Pixels is the coral version of Mood Ring, shifting from pink to coral to gold. Pretty and subtle while still being fun and interesting. Four coats for this one.

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Father's Day Nail Art

June 16, 2013, 3:49 am

≫ Next: Princess Series #3: Cinderella Nail Art

≪ Previous: Fresh Paint and Funky Fingers Haul from Five Below

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I settled down to do some nail art for Father's Day, all prepared to do that necktie nail art I've seen around on Pinterest. Bit then it occurred to me that in the past 20 years, I've never seen my dad wear a necktie, except a silver sequin one I made for him for New Years Eve. My dad just isn't a "tie guy". I thought about the things that actually DO remind me of my dad, and came up with this, instead. An amalgam of things that remind me of him. My dad loves baseball, beer, music, and has worn a fabulous mustache for as long as I've been alive. He's also a huge hippie that never really fell back in. Basically, he's awesome and I love him to bits.



(PS, this will be my ONLY allowance to the weird mustache trend that I'm too old to understand. Kids these days!)



Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On for all the white
Orly Glitz and Glamour for the peace sign and beer
China Glaze Desert Sun for the guitar body
L'Oreal Brownie Points for the dark brown on the guitar
Maybelline Racy Red for the baseball stitching
Wet N Wild Black Creme for the mustache.

Princess Series #3: Cinderella Nail Art

June 17, 2013, 10:19 am

≫ Next: Essence Nail Art Stampy Set Review

≪ Previous: Father's Day Nail Art

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So I was on a blue swatching binge when I got the hankering to do another manicure in my Princess Series and obviously Cinderella was who came to mind. The sun was not my friend today and almost all my shots were a blurry mess. I managed to get a decent one though!

Fun fact though, Cinderella's dress is blue in the marketing materials and at Disney parks, but in the movie was supposed to have been in a white/silver dress.


White is Wet N Wild French White Creme
Black is Wet in Wild Black Creme
Blue is China Glaze Kinetic Candy
Dark Blue is China Glaze Little Drummer Boy
Glitter in China Glaze Lorelai's Tiara
Silver is China Glaze Icicle
Also, I did a top coat of Orly's Twilight on the ring finger to give it some pizzazz, but it mostly just made it look weird. Oh well!

Essence Nail Art Stampy Set Review

June 18, 2013, 1:34 pm

≫ Next: Some China Glaze Sunsational Neons Swatches and Nail Art

≪ Previous: Princess Series #3: Cinderella Nail Art

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Essence Stampy Set 3.99 at Walgreens

So I was ridiculously excited when I saw the new Essence Display at Walgreens a while back, and have just now gotten around to trying out the Essence Stampy Set I got that day. I figured I'd give an overview of the set and how well it worked.

The instructions are pretty decent, I think. But honestly I think seeing a video and a bit of practice really help for those who've never stamped before.

The set contains a stamper, a scraper, and one image plate. I will probably never use the scraper, to be honest. It scratched up the plate just like my knoad one did. I just use old credit cards and the like for scraping. The stamper is great, a little less squishy than my konad stamper, and about the size of a quarter. 

I think the image plate provides a nice variety of designs, including a french tip, a dot pattern for the whole nail, and some cute stand alone images. This is an excellent plate for those unfamiliar with plates in general to get a feel for how the different kinds of designs work.

The designs are sharp and well engraved. I tried every design on the plate, and the only one I had issues with is the star french tip. I think ultimately, it would only work with really high contrast color combos because of how delicate the star pattern is. 

Here's a couple shots of the mani I did to test the plate out:

The instructions called for "nail art stampy polish", but I have never bought a polish specifically intended for stamping. I just use polishes that are fairly opaque in one coat, and they usually do the trick. In the above mani I used Orly Frolic (dark pink), Orly Lollipop (light pink), and Orly Luxe (gold). 

Overall, I think this set is great! It's perfect for those who don't know if they should take the plunge in buying more expensive plates and sets. For 3.99 (or lower, depending on sales!)this can't be beat!

Some China Glaze Sunsational Neons Swatches and Nail Art

June 20, 2013, 1:55 pm

≫ Next: Neon Heart Nail Art

≪ Previous: Essence Nail Art Stampy Set Review

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Picked up three of the China Glaze Sunsational Neons Collection for Summer 2013 from Ulta yesterday. They were B2G1 and I had a coupon, so I couldn't resist. I have to say, I used to feel that neon collections were boring and repetitive, but the past few years have proven me wrong! I am loving these new neon collections and appreciating the subtle differences in shades just like I do my standard cremes and shimmers. Anywho, onto swatches!

China Glaze Are You Jelly is a bright red-leaning purple jelly, as the (super cute!) name implies. This took four coats, but they were easy and not streaky. Unlike other jellies, this dried matte and deperately needed topcoat. I want to try one of those "pond" manicures with this!

China Glaze That's Shore Bright is a super saturated orchid-like purple creme, and a PAIN to photograph. All of my photos made this look way pinker than it is. It's really too bad, because this was my favorite of the bunch! I highly suggest getting a look at this one IRL before buying. Two coats for this one, dried matte.

Finally is China Glaze Sun of a Peach, an amazing neon peach creme. This reminds me a lot of Fresh Paint Honeydew in that it was both pastel and neon at the same time, which I love. This one was also a bit tough to photograph, my poor little iPhone can't handle all this color, evidently! Imagine these pics a touch pinker and you'll be on the money. Four coats, dried matte.

I couldn't resist doing some nail art with these shades, they are so fun! I managed a semi-decent gradient with the two purples, and hid the imperfections with dots!

I'm pretty satisfied with these shades and plan an getting a few more, which ones have you gotten/ are planning to get?

Neon Heart Nail Art

June 21, 2013, 9:23 am

≫ Next: Sally Hansen Sugar Coat Royal Icing Review and Swatches

≪ Previous: Some China Glaze Sunsational Neons Swatches and Nail Art

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I'm still having fun with my new China Glaze Sunsational neons, and decided to try out some stamping! Base color is China Glaze Sun of a Peach, purple hearts are China Glaze That's Shore Bright, and the light green is Fresh Paint Honeydew (another color I can't get enough of!). The heart stamp is from the Essence Stampy set I recently reviewed. I was quite happy with how easy these polishes were to stamp with! Normally, neons are not known for their opacity!

A couple more shots after the cut, these colors are hard to capture!