Thursday, August 9, 2012

Playing with Polish--piCture pOlish mirage

Ok, so every now and then I go a little crazy playing with nail polish.  Sometimes I'm testing out nail art ideas, other times I'm playing with layering or testing out "effects."

This episode of Playing with Polish, is no different.  I recently swatched piCture pOlish mirage for Blog Fest 2012.  I fell in love with it even though I could not master its application for the life of me.  Every time I swatched on a dark color like navy or black there was balding at my tips and cuticles. Besides, it was almost as if the polish shrunk after application.   I could probably use more layers, but I didn't want my nails to look thick with polish.  I was determined to master mirage.

I decided to play with it.  I layered it over a medium teal polish.  It was stunning, see for yourself!
See?  MUCH prettier than over a SUPER dark color:)  Even the duo chrome is prettier!
I know what you're thinking "what's with the dots?" well I put them there so you could see the color that I put underneath.  Also, I was just playing around;)

Have you tried out anything lately while playing with polish???

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Words of Wisdom Wednesday

Gee-wiz!  A lot of my friends in the blogosphere, facebook, and also on twitter seem to be going through some tough stuff.  My prayers go out to those of you who are struggling through things.

Today's "words of wisdom" is what I tell myself when I have anxiety about something.  I couldn't have said it better (whether your 'drink' is coffee, tea, wine, hot cocoa, etc.)...

Monday, August 6, 2012

Dots of Fun...

Marta from ChitChatNails is holding a humorous contest.  Participants were asked to create a doticure (manicure with dot nail art) and take a picture.  The twist was that in your picture you had to be holding an unconventional item.

Here is my entry:
I'm holding a frozen whole chicken.  My fingers were so cold after holding this!

To check out more of these lovely manicures, click here.  While you're there, feel free to vote on your favorite doticure & your favorite object being held:)

Other shots of this manicure holding random objects...




Friday, August 3, 2012

Sally Hansen Parchment Redeems Itself

Last week I posted about Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Parchment.  I you read my post, you can see that the results were less than desirable.  This week I was in full procrastination mode.  I did not want to work on my research proposal for grad school, so instead I played with nail polish:)

I decided to give Parchment another try before I tried to give it away.  I put 2 thin coats on, and it looked a million times better than it did the first time I wore it.  Then after a few hours admiring how much better it looked, I decided to have some fun & layer a bit of glittery goodness over it.

You all know about my love/hate relationship with glitter, but this one was an overall love.
The glitter on top of Parchment is Barielle Purple Hearts which is part of their new Dazzling Diamonds Collection.

What do you think?

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Barielle Dazzling Diamonds Collection

So, two weeks ago I had an interview which meant I had to leave my beach vacation & waste a day traveling home.  When I arrived home I was tired and kind of bummed that I had wasted such a beautiful day in the car.  That's when I noticed it...a lovely brown box.  I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I was expecting in the mail.  The only thing I was expecting should not have come in a box that large (it wasn't really that big, but you get the gist).  Then I looked at the label and...SURPRISE 2 new Barielle collections to swatch and share with you!

The first collection I pulled out was this glittery bunch called Dazzling Diamonds.
This collection consists of 5 glitter filled polishes.  Here's a peek of each one:
WARNING: a plethora of glitter lies ahead!  Including stray, clingy, & attacking particles.

4, 3, 2, and 1 coat index to pinkie.
Purple Hearts is described by Barielle as simply "purple glitter" which is in fact true, but a very generalized name for such a multifaceted glitter.  This polish, as you can see, is a clear base containing 3 sizes of glitter of 5 different colors.  The largest being purple hexagonal glitter.  The medium sized glitter is hexagonal  fuchsia and holographic pieces.  The finest glitter appear to be teeny squares in indigo and pastel pink.  This polish applied smoothly and quite evenly, although some glitter placement was needed for the large purple pieces.  I'm going to be honest, I was not thrilled with this glitter on its own but as you'll see in an upcoming post I was smitten by it when layered.



4, 3, 2, and 1 coat index to pinkie.
Ebony Rainbow is a "dark multi glitter" which is exactly what this polish is.  Tiny square (I think it's square, I was going cross-eyed trying to figure it out) glitter in packed in a clear (or slightly grey) base.  Ebony Rainbow contains glitter of the following colors: silver, gold, fuchsia, cobalt, emerald, dark orange, and the same pastel pink glitter in Purple Hearts.  It applied smoothly and pretty evenly.  Again, not a fan of it on its own, but is promising as a layering polish.


4, 3, 2, and 1 coat index to pinkie
Cherry Blossom Sparkler is identified as "red glitter." This is actually  deep pink jelly base packed with tiny light pink glitter.  Upon removal the glitter turned silver, so I'm not sure if the glitter is indeed silver and only appears pink in the jelly base.  Regardless, it was smooth to apply and built up easily.  I liked this on it's own but would most likely layer it over a pink or red polish to avoid waiting for the jelly base to dry three times:)



3, 3, 2, and 1 coats index to pinkie
Pink Diamond is said to be "pink glitter." The pink glitter is jam packed into a clear base and offered the most coverage.  Because the glitter is packed so tightly, this polish is the thickest and was the trickiest to apply.  That being said, it was also my favorite:)  I love the elegance of this rose gold glitter.


4, 3, 2, and 1 coat index to pinkie
Star Dust is what Barielle calls "multi glitter." This polish is infact a clear base full of fine iridescent glitter.  The glitter remind me of mylar fleck/flakie polishes.  This was so pretty.  It reminds me of snow glistening as the sun rises or sets...*sigh*...ok enough about winter;)  Next time I wear this polish it will definitely be layered over another polish, but it is lovely, isn't it???


The Verdict:
This collection was tons of fun.  My favorite was Pink Diamond, I just love rosy hued glitters.  Close behind was Star Dust.  I'm not someone who owns many glitter polishes, so I enjoyed all of them and they are quite unique to my collection. However, if you're someone who is REALLY into glitter nail polish, especially indie brands you probably already have similar polishes in your collection.  Regardless, these are great for layering over another polish or creating "jelly sandwiches."

This collection can be found at the Barielle website and retails for $25.00.  You can also purchase the polishes individually for $8.00.

Disclosure: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the manufacturer or their PR company for consideration.  For more information please visit the tabs below the header.