Takko Tuesday! - Blushing Nude

Happy Takko Tuesday!

Purchased by Me

Today, I am sharing a super duper special Takkito with you.  This is the one that started it all!  "Blushing Nude" was part of the inaugural collection from Takko Lacquer back in July 2012.  I didn't even start my nail polish addiction until October 2012 but "Blushing Nude" was on my radar before Christmas.  I needed it.  Like NEEDED it!  You could say that this polish was my very first lemming.  After months and months of trying to snag this beauty at a Takko restock and failing, I bit the bullet and ordered internationally from MeiMei Signatures.  So this polish was made in Florida, shipped to Singapore for me to buy it and have it shipped all the way back to Florida to me.  Silly, right?  But when you see this lovely polish...hopefully you will understand.

"Blushing Nude" is a nude based crelly with a bright pink/fuchsia iridescent shimmer.  The shimmer peeks out at certain angles which gives your nails a blushing like quality.  The base color is so close to my natural skin tone that is gives me that mannequin hand look but with a flash of pink blushing at an angle.  I wore this polish today as an entire manicure and people thought I had on clear polish with a pink shimmer.  It's so delicate, so subtle and is a perfectly work appropriate nail polish color.  I used two coats with a glossy top coat for my mani.  There is still a subtle visible nail line but that is what I like about it.  My nails but better. :)

Do you remember those old Takko Lacquer bottles?  I only have a handful for the older round bottles.  I do prefer the current little rectangle bottles that Sheryl uses now.  Wearing this polish today made me feel a little nostalgic for my early crazed excitement over indie polishes.  What was your first lemming and have you gotten your hands on it yet?  Tell me!

Takko Lacquer shop and restock info

Takko Lacquer IG

Takko Lacquer Twitter

Takko Lacquer stockists: Llarowe, Mei Mei Signatures, Femme Fatale


Smooches!
-Amy McPolish McG

*product purchased by me*

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My First French

Just a quick post today since I'm leaving town tomorrow! I'll be getting together with old friends and watching one of my dear friends get married, so no posts from me for a few days! While figuring out what to wear to the wedding I actually tried something I've never done before..

Are you ready to see something weird? This is my first french manicure (ever). I don't really think this is a good look for me. I completely hated it while I had it on my nails. Perhaps it's because I have wide nails, or my color choices, but I just think it looks strange.

I used Urban Decay Naked as the base, Sinful Colors White Striper to freehand the tips, then added a layer of Julep Gracie to tie it all together.

Is there any nail polish look that you absolutely hate on yourself?

OPI Your Royal Shyness Swatch

I've recently gained an appreciation for nude polishes. For the longest time I thought it was silly to wear nail polish that wasn't bright and colorful, but as a self-proclaimed nail polish addict I wear polish every single day. After a while you get tired of bright bold colors (and having to think about what you have to wear that won't klash with your nails). Since I love the feel of nail polish on my thin, fragile nails I opt for a nice nude polish rather than wearing no polish.

OPI Your Royal Shyness is a polish I picked up in my local grocery store. In the last month a small rack of OPI nail polish has popped up in the Bi Lo near my house. I have no idea why they are selling nail polish next to the band-aids, but I love it!

Your Royal Shyness is a sheer pearly shimmery nude. It's from the Princess Charming collection and I'm not entirely sure it's 3-free (although it does have the pro-wide brush). I wasn't going for an opaque finish, so I used three coats although I'm sure it would have been opaque in four.

I don't know what's up with me suddenly wearing neutral colors and wanting to see visible nail line! What's next? Boring french manicures?!? I hope not! :-P

Urban Decay Naked Collection Swatches

Today I have my first Urban Decay polishes to show you! I've long been tempted to purchase the well known Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palate, but at $50 it's not really worth it for someone who doesn't wear makeup on a daily basis (or weekly/monthly basis... wow I'm boring). When I saw the Urban Decay Naked nail polish set I absolutely had to have it. I purchased it from Sephora for $26.

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Naked is basically a rosy beige nude creme. It's smooth, it's shiny, it's gorgeous. By looking at it in the bottle I never expected it to match my skintone so well, it's probably my perfect nude. Flawless formula, this is two coats no top coat. I will definitely be wearing this one again!

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Sidecar is a rosy pink nude glitter. It's a very fine milled glitter in a nude jelly base. Super sparkly but in a subtle way. This one was more sheer, this is three coats and you can still see my nail line. With the glitter it dries a bit rough but one thick layer of top coat smooths it out completely. This would look great layered over any nude. First picture is without top coat, the rest are with a thick layer of top coat.

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Toasted is nude frosty shimmer. The base color is a bit of a darker nude loaded with silver shimmer giving it a bit of a lighter color overall. The formula was good but thin, I needed three coats to cover my visible nail line and had to be careful to avoid showing brushstrokes.

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Smog is a very interesting color. In dim lighting it's just a coppery brown, but then the light hits and it's a deep purple base with glowing fine golden shimmer. Absolutely stunning. I love this color so much, it's absolutely fascinating. The formula was great, this is two coats plus top coat.

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Hustle is a dark silvery-purple shimmer. In my opinion this shade is the least unique but still pretty. Hustle is the most opaque of this set, almost opaque in one coat, but I used two for the photos below (and top coat).

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Creep has the same fine-milled silver glitter, but this time in a black jelly base. I love how it looks in the bottle, and it translates well onto the nail. The formula was very smooth and this is two coats with a thick top coat (as it dries a little rough similar to Sidecar).

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My favorite in this collection is definitely Smog with Naked coming in a close second. Creep and sidecar are glorious with such fantastic glitter formulas. Hustle and Toasted are pretty colors, but I'm a bit disappointed that the shimmer is quite frosty, and I'm not a huge fan of frost finishes.

Overall I'm very happy with this collection. It's a great set for anyone who has a conservative workplace where wearing bright polish colors isn't allowed. This set provides some some interesting nudes and some fun darker shades for after work or weekends.

Inspired by Fashion

Although I know a bit about nail fashions, I know very little about fashion in general. I'm really more of a comfort kind of girl (goes with the line of work). I also have a hard time watching fashion models in their thin perfection making me feel bad about myself (not very bad, but it makes a girl think!)

I did a bit of googling to find some fashion inspiration and finally settled on this image (from this website) which is a combination of bright colors and nudes. For my mani I started with a nude base coat of Zoya Shay and added dots using China Glaze Neons Sun-Kissed, Beach Cruise-r, Hang-Ten Toes, and Orange You Hot. I still wasn't quite satisfied so I outlined the dot triangles I made with black. The finished look is very interesting and not something I'd usually wear, but it was very fun to do. I love how this challenge makes me reach outside of my comfort zone!

Inspired by Fashion

Inspired by Fashion

Inspired by Fashion

Inspired by Fashion

What about you? Are you frequently inspired by fashion?

To check out the rest of the challenge prompts and see the wonderful fashion inspired nails of the other challenge participants click read more!

My First Leopard Print!

The prompt for today's 31 day challenge was fun! Believe it or not I've never done any sort of animal print on my nails before since I can't really wear crazy patterns in my daily life. For my first animal print I decided to try for the traditional leopard print in semi-neutral colors.

I used two coats of Zoya Shay as the base then used OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys and Sally Hansen Black Out for the leopard spots.

I really liked how this looked on my nails (which somewhat surprised me) and I could see myself wearing this out if I had the right occasion to go to! In hindsight my leopard spots are a bit bigger than a lot of manis I've seen, but I'm quite happy with it.

Leopard Print

Leopard Print

Leopard Print

How do you feel about animal prints? Do you wear animal print nails?

Zoya Shay, my favorite nude

I've always had a hard time finding a nude to match my skin-tone. I finally decided to check out Zoya's impressive range of natural colors since I've had such luck with their polishes. I googled a lot of swatches and read a lot of reviews and finally decided on Zoya Shay, a shimmery nude with pink undertones. 

May I just say that I am in love with this polish? It is such a palate cleanser to look down and not see bright colors, but I still love it. I'm glad to finally have a go-to color for when I need a professional look. The formula was excellent, two coats to subtle perfection.

Zoya Shay

Zoya Shay

Are you a nude polish fan?

Forsaken: Deborah Lippmann's Bad Things (True Blood!)

If you've been a follower of mine for a couple of months, you might know that I'm a huge fan of True Blood, in fact, I sponsored my first giveaway centered around the season 5 premiere. :D When I first learned that HSN was launching Forsaken, a True Blood themed fragrance, with Deborah Lippmann polishes to go along with it I was extremely excited;  I wanted to own everything. I ended up ordering the fragrance, Bad Things Deborah Lippmann mini nail polish set, and the matching nail and lip color also from Deborah Lippmann all as sort of an early birthday present to myself. The nail and lip color are supposed to be infused with the Forsaken fragrance so I can't wait to try those out! (Unfortunately mine are back-ordered.)

Just look at that gorgeous bottle.

I normally only talk about nail polish, but I'm also a bit of a fragrance hoarder. I have probably 30-40 different purfumes and body sprays. The Forsaken fragrance came in the mail yesterday, surprising me since  I just got the order confirmation yesterday morning. I wish I could write a proper review, but I'm not all that knowledgeable about fragrances so I won't pretend to be. All I can say is that I'm very happy with this scent. It's subtle yet deep, it's warm and musky, it fits the theme perfectly, yet something I could wear everyday. The bottle is to-die-for gorgeous. All vampy and mysterious.


Now on to the nail polish, which I'm sure you've all been waiting for.

Bad Things Nail Polish Trio

First up is New Flesh.

New Flesh is a beige toned nude jelly, sheer on the first coat but very buildable. The formula is very interesting because it applied streaky, but dried smooth and flawless. I thought it was going to be a disaster at first but I was pleasantly surprised. The nice thing about having a nude jelly is that it's much more likely to match your skin tone.

Deborah Lippmann - New Flesh - 3 coats

Deborah Lippmann - New Flesh - 3 coats

Deborah Lippmann - New Flesh - 3 coats

Strange Love is what I'd consider a 'crelly' finish. On first coat it looks and applies like a jelly, but it's easily opaque in two coats like a creme. This color is absolutely gorgeous. This is the shade I was looking forward to the least and it turned out to be my favorite. It has a very slight subtle shimmer that's hard to see and nearly impossible to photograph but it just makes this polish so beautiful. It also has a killer shine. This one is
with no top coat.

Deborah Lippmann - Strange Love - 2 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Strange Love - 2 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Strange Love - 2 coats

Bad Blood is a sheer dark blood red jelly. I think it's described as sheer black cherry, but in my mind it's a bloody plumb, a bit more purple than it is red. Regardless, it's dark and vampy and very pretty. When the description says sheer they mean sheer. This one reminds me a lot of the pictures I've seen of the Zoya Gloss collection. This is four coats, but I easily could have gone on and done five or six. My only issue with this is the fact that it's only available in a mini bottle, so one opaque mani takes a lot of that little bottle.

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Blood - 4 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Blood - 4 coats

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Blood - 4 coats

Overall I'm very happy with Forsaken. I mainly purchased it as the novelty of having True Blood themed fragrance and polish (I've got a classic Fangtasia t-shirt in my closet) but I can see myself wearing all of these colors. Bad Blood would make great jelly sandwiches (I might have to try that soon) and I will wear Strange Love any day!

Did you order or consider ordering Forsaken? Have you ever ordered nail polish just as a novelty item?

Essie Mini Duos

I picked up a set of Essie minis on the sale rack the other day: Jazz and St. Lucia Lilac. Both of these colors are great for fall, a nude and a light purple. I used two coats of each with top coat.

Normal Essie bottles: small and cute. Essie minis: adorable!

Jazz is a yellow-toned nude. I had to take these pictures right outside my house to catch the setting sun and I realized it's the exact same color as my house! I'm still not a fan of nudes, but I thought it would be nice to have one in my collection.

With flash:

St. Lucia Lilac is a pretty faded lilac. It's nothing unique but it's a good subtle color.