New Challege! The Lazy Days of Summer #1- Beach Themed

I knew I wanted to join up with this challenge as soon as there was talk of it in our Facebook group. The same ladies, as well as some new ones, teamed up to do a Summer themed challenge! Woo!

How fun does that all sound?! I was planning on starting the same time as everyone else, but they increased my hours at work, and my grad summer classes all had these crazy big assignments due at the same time! THEN I got sick! I'm feeling slightly better, but man- a cold in the summer is just horrible. I have a presentation in class tonight and my voice is virtually non-existent! 

Anyway, I wanted to make myself feel better, and something that always makes me happy is the beach. I love the sound of the waves, the feel of the air, the breeze....sighhhhh.

Anyway, I sucked it up and began the challenge! 

For the beach theme, I went with what I think of first when I hear the word "beach"- water, sand, and sparkle. There's just something about the way everything at the beach just glistens in the sunshine! I tried to reproduce it on my nails. I began with 2 coats of Nubar Blue Hydrangea, then went and did the tips in uneven strokes with China Glaze Fast Track. Then, on Blue Hydrangea only, I used Rainbow Honey Celestia (holy crap, this polish is amazing. I'll be doing a post on it in the near future!), and then went back in and applied a bit of All That Glitters Jean Genie. I finished the whole thing off with some Seche Vite. Have a look:

Not exactly what I had in mind, but it works just fine.

If you would like to see more designs from The Lazy Days of Summer challenge, check out these other ladies:

Victoria Vertel

http://www.manicurator.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Manicurator

Alyson Epstein

http://beadsnailsfood.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/BeadsNailsFood

Amanda Murphy

http://mandyspolish.blogspot.com/

Hannah Fabiny

http://polished-prisms.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/PolishedPrisms

Sue O'Connor

http://creativenaildesignbysue.blogspot.com 

Katee Baum

http://www.agirlandherpolish.com

http://www.facebook.com/AGirlandHerPolish

Charlotte-Louise Bennett

http://charlottes-nails.blogspot.co.uk/

Jessica Francis

http://nearlynaturalnails.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/NearlyNaturalNails

Karine Assemien

http://karinea0a.blogspot.com 

Jen Guin

http://thepolishedzombie.blogspot.com

Jessica Brown

http://jessicasnailtales.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JessicasNailTales

Ashley Rowlands-Vanderzande

http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.ca

Pryanka Arora

http://nailsparks.blogspot.com/

Anna Freedman, Erin Obriecht, Robin Storesund

http://www.polishedcousins.com

http://www.facebook.com/PolishedCousins

Maribeth Robienczak

http://obsessivecosmetichoardersunite.blogspot.com/

Kayono Lan (aka Johanna)

http://kayonolan.blogspot.de/

Sharra Farivar

http://alira23.blogspot.ca/search/label/Polished%20Prisms%20The%20Lazy%20Days%20of%20Summe\

Nichole Mowery

http://aotnf.blogspot.com

Stephanie Oblas

http://alittlepolish.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

All That Glitters- The Jean Genie

So, remember that giveaway I won back in March? (Click to see when I received the bottles)
Remember when I swatched half of my prize? (Click to see the swatches)
Well...I finally did #3 of the 4 polishes I received!
Today I have for you The Jean Genie by All That Glitters.
This glitter polish GLEAMS! It reminds me of ice. This polish is a silvery blue with oodles of glitter in it. It was easy to apply- no digging for glitter! I could have stopped at 2 coats, but it was still a little sheer for my taste.
This is 3 coats Jean Genie, 1 coat Gelous, and 1 coat Seche Vite.

Do you see how metalic/ shimmery this polish is!?

*Above picture is color enhanced so as to better view the glitter details*

To purchase this polish, or any of All That Glitters' polishes, click HERE.
Be sure to like the All That Glitters HERE.

I hope you enjoyed!
Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

Last of the Nail Mail

**Picture Heavy Post***

I just wanted to share with you all the last of my polish splurge (you know, that reason I put myself on a no-buy). These came last week and you've already seen 2 of them in action, but I don't care! You get to see them again!

First up, I have my Enchanted Polishes:

 Cranberry Cosmo, Ocean Potion, and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Rear view: Cranberry Cosmo, Ocean Potion, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Ocean Potion macro

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (you've already seen this one on the nail HERE)

Cranberry Cosmo macro

I'm so excited to try these beautiful holographic polishes- especially now that the sun is deciding to come out again!

Next up are the stunning Paris Sparkles polishes:

Crazed, Celery Stalker, Chrome, Election Day

Rear view: Crazed, Celery Stalker, Chrome, Election Day

Election Day macro

Chrome macro

Crazed macro

Celery Stalker maco (this has already been seen on the nail HERE)

Last, but not at all least, I have one from All That Glitters:

!! Hole Hearted !!

Hole Hearted macro

I am super excited to whip up some fun manicures with all of these and truly hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Enchanted polishes can  be found HERE and HERE and HERE.

Paris Sparkles can be found HERE and HERE

All That Glitters can be found HERE and HERE

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

All That Glitters Giveaway Prizes Part 1

I'm ashamed it took me this long to get even two polishes swatched and photographed. Grad school wasn't cooperating, and neither was the sun (for the pictures). Anyway, I have 2 of the Bowie Collection polishes from All That Glitters. These are all hand mixed polishes made by the wonderful Kirsten.You can check out her Etsy store here and you can check out her Facebook page here.

So, on to the polish then?

I think so.

First up is Rebel Rebel.

As you can see, Rebel Rebel is a lovely purple and glitter polish. I decided to layer it over Rimmel Climax to preserve it. In all of the pictures, I have one coat Rimmel Climax and one coat Rebel Rebel. Such a gorgeous polish.

Second up is Space Oddity. Before we get to the polish, I just want to apologize for the messy cuticles and photos that are lacking quality. The sun didn't feel like coming out to play and then briefly it did so I hurried and in the chaos, left messy finger. Oh well. Space Oddity is a smoky charcoal base with all sorts of glittery goodness in it! Take a look!

I layered the polish over Sinful Colors Black on Black to make it more vibrant. Such a gorgeous polish. It looks like the night sky on my nails!

I just want to say thank you again to Kirsten for these amazing prizes. These polishes are gorgeous and I still have 2 more to show you! Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading,
-Amanda

I'm on a Roll! (and a Teaser Post)

Hey, since I was all sorts of motivated to keep publishing, I figured I'd roll with it. First off, I purchased 7 of the 12 China Glaze Capitol Colors polishes. I'll get around to wearing them all or using them in different designs I already have planned. The first one I chose to wear is such a gorgeous, out of the box color for me. After my water marble frenzy, I wanted a soft, soothing color with just a hint of POW! I think China Glaze Fast Track is just the polish for the occasion.

This polish is a light taupe with golden flecks throughout. It's made to represent District 6- Transportation.

Here is a closer shot in more direct sunlight. See the beautiful sparkle?

Just another sunlight shot.


Alright, on to my excitement for the day! As some of you know, I recently won a nail polish giveaway. I NEVER win things. I just don't have that kind of luck, but still I continue to try. My persistence finally paid off! Kirsten over at All That Glitters hosted a giveaway for her all new, handmade Bowie polish collection. Handmade polish? David Bowie? Sparkly Glitter? Uhm...yes please?!
I had heard about her polishes through Traci on her blog. I fell in love with the All That Glitters look! So I figured, what the heck, let's give it a try. I entered and during the worst week I've had in a long while, I got a notification on Facebook saying that I had won! These 4 beautiful polishes were mine!
Well, I walked to my mailbox this afternoon and behold! A package was inside! I quickly grabbed it and ran back to the house! I ripped into the package and couldn't wait to see what was inside! I snapped a quick picture of the gorgeous and practical wrapping Kirsten used. I want this tape!

(Sorry for the wonky picture direction. My editing program decided it liked the picture better this way 0_o)

And now, on to the best part! The polishes themselves! 

 The Jean Genie- this one has so much gorgeous goodness going on in it, I don't even know where to start! It seems to have a fun pearl blue base with white bar, tiny hex, and medium hex glitter. Then there's some silver micro and hex glitter, tiny blue hex glitter, and tiny green hex glitter. Just delicious!

Ziggy Stardust- this one has just as much going on in it! It has a tangerine/ sunset pink base and is packed to the brim with awesome glitter as well! There's gold micro, bar, and tiny hex glitter with some added white hex glitter as well. So summery!

Rebel Rebel- this one looks like it has a fun purple pearl base to it with lots of glitter! I see white bar and hex glitter, then there's silver micro glitter, and it's finished off with some blackish/gun metal tiny hex glitter.

Space Oddity- this one looks like a slightly sheer smoky black base with silver micro glitter and white bar, and various hex size glitter.

(Just another shot of the bottles!

Can I say I'm in love with all of these? Because I am. I'll be swatching them within the next couple of days- after I go see the Hunger Games.

If you'd like to check out some of the All That Glitters polishes, you can visit the Etsy store here. 

Thank you so much, Kirsten. I can't wait to try these out!

My next post will be in a few days and I just can't wait to show it! I'll be going to see the Hunger Games this Sunday and I'll be wearing my nerdy Hunger Games shirt and will be rocking my Hunger Games inspired manicure. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda