Trying to stay on it! Color Clubed Berry and Bright striped mani!

Wow, twice in a week, I'm on a roll! Actually, I just finished my final exam last night, so all I have left of graduate school is my school counseling internship starting in January (which is ALL I'll have, I have to take a leave of absence from work).

So this mani just chipped on me while I was making dinner (but it probably wouldn't have if I didn't try to ninja-chop sausage, lol), but I LOVED it. I asked what I should do on Facebook, and someone said candy cane stripes. Well, time was of the essence, so full stripes were not able to be done. BUT I compromised and did sparkly stripes with red and silver, because I felt in the holiday spirit, hehe. PLUS, I was dying to use my scented Color Club holiday polish!

Here we have Color Club Berry and Bright with a stripe of L.A. Colors Art Deco in silver glitter. Berry and Bright is from Color Club's current holiday collection, but there's a catch to it. Sally Beauty Supply actually started selling sets of this collection, and only Sally's are scented! I was very excited about that, I love scented polish! This one had a Christmas-y berry scent that's hard to describe, but delicious nonetheless. In terms of formula, Berry and Bright is a berry red shimmery foil like polish that almost appears glass flecked. In the right light, I get the faintest hint of blue and silver sparkle, but overall a very pretty, holiday polish! Definitely perfect for candy cane stripes :-)

In artificial light, with flash. Not the best quality :-(

No flash. Can you see the shimmer?

I don't know why this comes up this way when I upload it, but I cannot change it now matter how I try >.< I had another cute one with the gift box, too! But, check out my freehand, just saying! LOL

So I had a few more cute pictures, but I have to fiddle more with the photos, when I open the files in the folder, they aren't rotated, only in Blogger...

But overall, enjoy, check out this collection at Sally Beauty supply if you want them scented, or any other CC carrier if you don't. I have another polish from the collection coming soon, stay tuned!

Peace!
-Jessica

OMG THE DUOCHROME! Color Club Port-Folio, even though they're phone pictures :-(

So my husband stole my (well, technically our) camera for work, so all I had to take pictures was my phone. My phone has a decent camera, but it's just NOT THE SAME. I'm going to share the picture anyway, though, because they really are that pretty.

So I'm a little behind on this color, but Color Club's Port-Folio came out this fall with the In True Fashion Collection. I'm all for a great duochrome, and boy does this deliver! It has a green/purple/navy color shift, with a a metallic shimmer finish. The color shift is AMAZING, I couldn't really capture it to its full potential on my phone but the different pictures show the shift. The formula also isn't terrible, slightly thin but opaque in two coats. AND since I can't leave anything alone, I did one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust for a subtle holographic sparkle.

Pardon the couch backdrop, I was a little shaken after not having my actual camera. You can see a little bit of the color shift here. No flash, artificial light.

No flash, artificial light. You see mainly the purple here.

With flash. In this light, the purple is BRIGHT. With a little blur to show the holographic sparkle of Fairy Dust.

With flash. The green you see in the bottle really did translate gorgeously on the nail!

 This color is RIDICULOUS to try to capture on camera, if you haven't yet checked it out I highly suggest a purchase. (If duochrome polishes are your thing, of course).

Now, this mani chipped today so I'm getting ready to do a Christmas mani...I had one vote for candy cane stripes on Facebook, you'll have to see how it turns out!

Peace!
-Jessica

OVERDUE Polish Post: China Glaze Winter Holly

So I am SOOOO overdue on blog posts, it's not funny. I had this polish on at the beginning of the week, but with the craziness of being a grad student at the end of the semester, blogging has unfortunately taken a back seat. My nail polish, however, has not, if you check out my Facebook. I actually posted a couple pictures of this polish there, and even made it my profile picture because of the holiday season :-). I even have a Christmas themed blog for the month of December!

*On a note, even though I'm a Christmas-y blog, I DO highly encourage and appreciate those celebrating different holidays. Mine may be Christmas but I love to hear and see others!

On to the polish! China Glaze Winter Holly from the Holiday Joy 2012 collection. Oh how I love thee! So wintery and festive, here you will see a almost forest green fine glitter with gold and some holographic glitter mixed in. Very reminiscent of I'm Not Lion/I Herd That from On Safari collection and United/Hello Gorgeous from the United collection in terms of formula, but with the beautiful Christmas green and gold. It definitely needed topcoat with make it shiny/sparkly, and I did a coat of Gelous to smooth it out. Here's the photos!

No flash in artificial light, with garland background :-)

With flash, artificial light

No flash, more garland!

With flash and blurry, to show the holographic goodness

 Isn't that so festive and Christmas-y? This polish would be perfect for a Christmas-tree mani, as the green of the tree. Maybe I'll make that happen soon...

Until then, enjoy your holiday!
-Jessica

Would you like some...ZOYAS? Out-of-the-Blue Giveaway!

If you answered yes to that question, you've come to the right place! I'm getting in the holiday spirit, and I feel AWFUL for not being as active as I'd like. So, to make up to you all, I've decided to offer THREE Zoya polishes from the website (with exception to the 18K Gold Flakie polish, I'm sorry!). Entering is simple, you just have to fill out the Rafflecoptor.

*Note: As Zoya does not ship internationally, this contest cannot be international. Unless you have an American friend I can ship to that will agree to ship to you, I must request U.S. entries only :-( Someday, I NEED to figure out international shipping!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm baaaaaccckkkK! :-D With CANDY CORN NAILS!!!

I'm doing horribly lately at getting my posts done. Twelve master's credits really are as bad as my advisers told me they'd be! But while I should be utilizing this day off for working on a paper...I'm updating the blog quick with one of my favorite mani's that I've done in a long time :-D

First of all, I LURVE candy corn. Second of all, today (October 30) is National Candy Corn Day! So, naturally, candy corn is my theme :-) Here I've used Orly Spark for the yellow base on all but the ring finger. Then I sponged Sally Hansen Sun Kissed for the orange gradient, and used China Glaze Lightning Bolt crackle. For the ring finger, the base is Sally Hansen White on, with Sparked and Sun Kissed sponged on in a gradient fashion. The whole thing is topped off with a coat of China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, but I couldn't get a good picture of the glow :-(

With flash in fluorescent light

No flash, fluorescent light

No flash, incandescent light

Had to do a picture of my mani with the shirt I'm wearing today!

Now I'm working on a mystical witchy mani for Halloween tomorrow, and I'm having a hard time with it!!!

Peace!
-Jessica

Polish Haul! I've been on a roll...

So while school and work have been incredibly overwhelming, I have had polish to keep me sane :-). I haven't kept the best track of my mani's thus far, but I HAVE picked up quite a few polishes in the past couple of weeks! I'm hoping to be able to show some of this off in the near future, depending on how much I want to procrastinate on graduate work, lol.

So I'll start with my little haul from approximately two weeks ago. This is from three places: Sally Beauty, Beauty PLUS, and Hot Topic.

From left to right: Finger Paints Easel-y Entertained and Where Art Renoir?, China Glaze Desert Sun and Jungle Queen, OPI Super Bass Shatter, China Glaze Hello Gorgeous, Color Club Worth the Risque (holo version!)  and Wink Wink Twinkle, and a Hot Topic Blue glow-in-the-dark skull polish

And here was one mani I did after getting this haul:

One coat of Finger Paints Where Art Renoir? with a coat of China Glaze Hello Gorgeous. Check that holographic sparkle!!!

 Then yesterday, I had the day from HELL at work. So I hit up Sally Beauty again, who is having a 50% off all clearance items sale...so I got the following:

China Glaze Halloween pack with Roughish Red, Glitter Goblin, Bizarre Blurple, and Ghoulish Glow. Orly Flash Glam FX Mermaid Tale and Sashay My Way, Finger Paints Fall of Surprises, and China Glaze Swanky Silk

And then today I had some amazing nail mail! I had ordered a grab bag from Jen over at Jen's Nail Files. She guaranteed ten polishes and at least one full size indie. WELL, she definitely gave what she promises and more!

Julep Boris and Nicole, OPI Didgeridoo Your Nails, Color Club Hot Like Lava, China Glaze Skyscraper, Confetti Pink Confetti, and Tip Top Rocky Road Glitter

Claire's Flamingo Feather, F4 Hawaiian Punch mini, Darling Diva Antares, Creative King's Ransom, Monster Mixers and Elixers Stratosphere mini, Spoiled Use Protection, and Avon Stunning Cobalt

WOW! I ended up with one full size indie, two mini indies, and a total of 11 full size and two mini bottles of polish. *Billy Mays style* BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Halloween Candy!

Bag of goodies including dolphin nail file, witch eraser, two mini vials of glitters, a notepad, and four magic grow beans.

Like, I'm looking at this influx of new polishes dreaming of the different combinations possible! Do I put the Hawaiian punch over the Flamingo Feather? Stratosphere over Stunning Cobalt? Rocky Road Glitter over Hot Topic glow in the dark? Ghoulish Glow under Super Bass Shatter?

What do you guys think I should do with some of this? I did show one combo, because it was GORGEOUS and I had it on for like, four days without chipping! Anything else?

Good night!
-Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)

Sorry for the delay! Here's a 10 day challenge...

So I've been out of touch with my Blogger, school as started both for me and the students in the class I'm a T.A. in, so time is of the essence nowadays. BUT I've still gotten to paint my nails, and even join in Erica's Nails and More 10 Day Challenge! She's decided to cut down the time on a nail art challenge, which is PERFECT for me at the moment. But I'm gonna give you guys a lowdown on the first half of the challenge (with a little sneak-peak at some of my entries :-O!).

Day 1: Favorite Color. If you check out this blog (just opening the page gives it away!), my favorite color is purple. And my favorite polish color/finish is sparkle/holographic. SO I did a base of China Glaze Stone Cold with Claire's Night Sky holographic glitter, then did stripes of my most prized polish I own, Color Club Fashion Addict (also my favorite color!)

Day 2: Favorite Animal. Since I first read the Harry Potter series, I've had a thing for owls. So here I did Zoya Angelina with China Glaze Oxidized Aqua for the wings and other fingers. I did L.A. Colors Atomic for the belly, Zoya Paz for the beak, and Sally Hansen White On with a Sinful Colors shimmer black nail art polish for the eyes.

 Day 3: Favorite Season. Now, I wanted to go a little out of the box for this one, and my fingers needed a break. So I did my current favorite time of year, football season! I'm a HUGE NY Giants fan, so I had to do red and blue! It's OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It! and A Out Bit of Red, with China Glaze Unplugged and Sally Hansen White On for the football.

*sneak peak* Day 4: Saran Wrap Nails. I had never done this form of nail art before, but it turned out to be just as easy as sponging on polish. You paint your base and let it dry COMPLETELY (I don't think I let it dry enough). Then you paint a layer of the other color on and, while wet, dab a balled up piece of saran wrap on it. I didn't love the results, but it was easy. This is OPI Pepe's Purple Passion and Pink Friday, with a touch of Orly 54 (Sparkle and Shine at least needs a little shimmer!)

*sneak peak* Day 5: Gradient Nails. I've done this technique three times before, and this is so far my best attempt (my gummy worm nails for my last challenge were an utter fail, and my candy corn nails were...better). I learned you need less polish on the sponge, which is how my pinky turned out so well. This is my metallic duo-chrome gradient, with Ulta Jaded as the base and China Glaze Deviantly Daring as the second color.

So there you have the first part of this 10-day challenge! I will probably post the other five at the end of the challenge, and you can go to Erica's Facebook page to see all the contestants as they post throughout the day :-)

<3 Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)