31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Week 1 Roundup

Hey lovelies!

So the yearly nail art challenge is upon us.  If you are not familiar with the 31 Day Nail Art Challenge, stop by Chalkboard Nails for more info.  But basically, you push yourself to create new nail art to share every day for 31 day based on a list of prompts.   I have been posting my creations daily on my Instagram account but decided to do weekly recap blog posts.  So here are my manicure for the first week of the challenge!

Click through for all the nail arts!

Crashing Wave Nail Art

After all of the fun introducing our newest bloggers, today you're back to boring old me with some easy nail art. ;)

The idea for this mani idea started when I saw some stunning wave nail art, first from a french blogger La paillette frondeuse, then from the fabulous Nailasaurus. I was definitely inspired and wanted to create my own ocean nails as a hybrid between these two gorgeous looks. It's about time I did some ocean-themed nails, I am a marine biologist after all. ;)

I started with a base coat of piCture pOlish Ocean. The scattered holographic in Ocean makes it a perfect water base color. This was actually a mani that was several days old and was starting to show a bit of tip wear, what a great way to refresh a manicure! Following the Nailasaurus, I haphazardly sponged on a lighter blue (Deborah Lippmann Let's Hear It For The Boy) and a white (Cult Nails Tempest).

The crashing waves is definitely one of my most successful and easiest nail art adventures yet. Since crashing waves are very abstract, there is no right or wrong. All I really did was dab some polish on the tips of my fingers and voila, waves!

I can't wait to wear this mani somewhere to show it off! My fellow marine biologists are going to love it. What's your favorite simple nail art look?


--Rebecca

Blue Scattered Holo Comparison

After yesterday's comparison, someone asked me to compare more blue scattered holographics, so here's a new pairing of polishes! (This time I got my labels right, haha). This is piCture pOlish Cosmos vs. LA Girl Brilliant Blue vs. piCture pOlish Hope.

Hope is a dark teal scattered holographic with blue glitter, much darker than the rest. This one is the most unique of the bunch!
Cosmos is a bit of a teal toned blue, a feature which is much more obvious at one coat than it is here.
Brilliant Blue is a dark but vibrant holo with larger holographic particles than the piCture pOlishes.

The formula on all three of these was excellent. I do prefer the brush on the piCture pOlishes to the LA Girl, but if you can find LA Girl in stores (I had to order mine online) it's the clear winner in cost. Photos below are two coats with topcoat.

This last photo captures the different between Cosmos and Brilliant Blue the best:

What do you think, any dupes here? Which one is your favorite?

piCture pOlish Freya's Cats Comparison

As promised, here's a comparison of Freya's Cats with my other scattered blue holos.

First of all, PLEASE ignore the labels on this first image. I don't know why I was such an idiot, but I deleted the photos off of my camera before realizing my stupidity. I copied and pasted my labels onto different fingers and forgot to change them before saving the image.

The polish are: (L to R) LA Girl Brilliant Blue, piCture pOlish Freya's Cats, piCture pOlish Cosmos, and piCture pOlish Freya's Cats (2 coats of Cosmos and Brilliant Blue, 3 coats of Freya's Cats).

No dupes here, although differences are less subtle in person. Cosmos is the darkest of the bunch, and slightly more teal. Brilliant Blue has larger scattered holographic particles than both of the piCture pOlishes and is darker than Freya's Cats.

Conclusion: piCture pOlish Freya's Cats is a pretty unique scattered blue holo! I can't wait to compare it to the new Zoya Dream!

piCture pOlish Freya's Cats

I've been wearing a lot of piCture pOlish shades lately. They keep coming up with gorgeous unique nail polishes that I just can't get enough of. This is piCture pOlish Freya's Cats. It's another fabulous collaboration shade created with beauty blogger Nihrida. Nihrida says that Freya's Cats was inspired by the Norse goddess of love, beauty, war, and death (who apparently rode a chariot pulled by blue cats, you learn something new every day).

Freya's Cats is a bright blue scattered holographic polish. This polish isn't just blue, it's bold and vivid. The base of the polish is jelly-like to show off the gorgeous scattered holographic particles.

The formula on Freya's Cats was pretty typical for the recent piCture pOlish scattered holos, it's a jelly formula so it's a bit thinner than most polishes (this is necessary to show off the gorgeous scattered holographic particles). I used three coats plus topcoat for the photos below.

This color wowed me so much, and it's unlike any other blue scattered holo I own. Stay tuned tomorrow for a comparison between Freya's Cats and some other scattered blue holos!

Doesn't it look amazing, even on my short little nubbins?

piCture pOlish Sea Jewel

Have you ever seen sea glass? That beautiful ethereal remnant of human beings and the power of the ocean. The soft finish and beautiful colors of sea glass were what inspired Anutka of Wacky Laki to create her collaboration shade, piCture pOlish Sea Jewel.

image source

Sea Jewel is a fine metallic blue-green. It's a piCture pOlish mesh shade, so the polish is made up of tiny silver glitter in a light teal jelly base. The finish is intensely sparkly and looks perfectly like sea glass.

The formula for Sea Jewel was excellent, I used two coats and top coat for the photos below. Although there was still a bit of texture from the glitter with one coat of topcoat, I prefer that look to glossy. Somehow the slight satin finish that can be achieved with one coat of topcoat looks perfectly like sea glass. I'm in love.

Who wouldn't love that satiny sparkle finish? It's such a soft dreamy color with so much character! Have you tried Sea Jewel? Doesn't it look beautifully like sea glass?

piCture pOlish Shy Violet

Where does the time go? Today I'm back, and I'll hopefully be able to post more regularly now that the busy month of September is almost over. I can't wait for autumn, and I'm sure I'm not the only one excited for Halloween!

Today I have piCture pOlish Shy Violet. Shy Violet was designed by Glam Polish, and it is the perfect bright violet purple. It's bright and rich, and oh so gorgeous. Shy Violet is a jelly base loaded with scattered holographic particles that glitter and shine through the base.

The formula for this polish didn't give me any issues at all. It applied smoothly and dried pretty fast. I did end up needing 3 solid coats for an opaque finish. Since Shy Violet contains scattered holographic particles, the jelly base needs to be a bit more sheer so that you can see these gorgeous sparkles.

Every time piCture pOlish releases new collaboration shades I try to convince myself that I don't need them. It's not that they aren't gorgeous (it's that they are), I just have SO much nail polish! Somehow, I always end up buying all of the collaboration shades. Created by fellow polish addicts, these shades always fill holes in my polish collection. The collaboration shades are always something new, unique, and gorgeous!

Isn't Shy Violet just stunning?

piCture pOlish Ocean Swatches and Review

How about another gorgeous piCture pOlish lacquer today? I'm in love with this polish, and with Blog Fest 2013 still going strong it seems appropriate!

Ocean has an ocean blue (do you see what I did there?) jelly base loaded with scattered holographic particles. Since the base is a jelly, it is a bit sheer, so this is three coats. When I first started this manicure, I had one coat on my nails and thought "this is going to be too sheer, I won't like it" but it built up very nicely and in three coats I had both opacity, and a gorgeous depth that wouldn't be possible with an opaque base. I have worn for 4-5 days without any sign of chips or wear, and I didn't haven't had any issues staining.

I can't even describe to you how much I love this nail polish. The color is absolutely perfect, it's the bright blue of clear ocean water. It reminds me of looking into the water around Hawaii. Also, piCture pOlish scattered holographic polishes always have the most beautiful sparkle! I may have gotten a bit carried away with the photographs (what can I say, I'm in love) but I also had fun with some seashells, a perfect match for Ocean!

I absolutely adore this polish. I've worn Ocean 3 times since I purchased it a little over a month ago, and that's saying something for me! It's such a bright beautiful summer blue, and so flattering!

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Lastly, a little plug for Blog Fest. If you liked my nail art yesterday, please consider voting for me! Everyone has a chance to win 6 bottles of polish of their choice! There will be four (4) lucky voters (2 x Aussie and 2 x International) out of the votes for the winning Blogger creation.

To vote: Click the image below (or this link). Fill out the form with your name and email address, put the name of the blogger you wish to vote for in the comments section (for example, Polish Etc), type in the security code and hit submit! Voting is only open for about another 12 hours!!

You can check out the other entries on the piCture pOlish Launch Board.

piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013!

Press Sample

Hello everyone! This year I am very proud to announce that I am part of piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013: The Year of the Blogger.

If you aren't familiar with Blog Fest, it's an annual celebration of piCture pOlish by bloggers worldwide. In the past it has corresponded with the release of several new colors, but this year there will be 130+ bloggers creating nail art looks using three existing shades of piCture pOlish lacquers!

Since I'm a huge piCture pOlish fan, I was so honored and excited to be asked to participate in this event!! From among the bloggers, three will be chosen to create a unique piCture pOlish collaboration shade (how awesome is that??). One winner will be chosen by Jules and Megs of piCture pOlish, one will be chosen by the bloggers, and the last will be chosen by everyone! So if you like my creation please consider voting for me. :D

The three shades that I was sent are Sky (a beautiful light blue creme), Camo (a green-toned grey creme), and Peaches n' Cream (a pretty peach-toned pink creme). Since I'm not a huge nail art person, I decided to do a geometric style of nail art rather than an abstract pattern. I created a shattered nail art look using just three piCture pOlish shades and striping tape!

If you like this shattered nail art, look no further! I've created a detailed tutorial below with complete instructions. Like I said, all you need for this look is some striping tape, and a small paintbrush, which are available at most nail polish supply stores (like Sally Beauty). If you don't have striping tape, you can carefully cut strips of cellophane tape using scissors. Just keep in mind that the width of the tape will determine your final look, so try to keep the strips thin and even.

For my particular nail art I started with two coats of camo on my index and pinky fingers, and two coats of Sky on my middle and ring fingers. This gave me a matching but mismatched final manicure, which I absolutely loved!

Another great way to wear this nail art is as an accent nail! An accent nail can tie together different polishes to create a cohesive manicure. It's also just a great way to rock nail art if you aren't ambitious enough for the entire project!

I couldn't be happier participating in Blog Fest 2013! I hope you liked my nail art creation and get a chance to try it out yourself! If you do like it, I'd appreciate your support in the contest ahead! All blogger nail art will be pinned to a Blog Fest 2013 board on Pinterest!

piCture pOlish ships internationally from their online website (check out their shipping page), and is also available worldwide through their polish network. You can also save by checking out their everyday deals!

Make sure you check out piCture pOlish on all of your favorite social networking websites: 

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube and Google+

piCture pOlish Wisteria Review

Today I have a polish that was very recently on my nails (yesterday in fact) that I just have to share! This is the stunning piCture pOlish Wisteria.

Wisteria might be one of the most beautiful purple polishes I own. I'm usually not a big fan of cremes because they can be boring but Wisteria is anything but boring. It's a bright purple creme, and no pictures I take do it justice. It's a light purple, sort of a neon pastel because it's very bright yet still creamy and white-based.

The formula on this polish was excellent, it was opaque in two buttery smooth coats. A while back piCture pOlish changed their brush style to a slightly wider firmer brush and it's absolute perfection for the perfect application. Wisteria also dried quickly and clean up was a breeze.

What amazed me most about Wisteria was how long I wore it without chipping. I wore this polish for 5 days, compared to my usual two. I just loved the color and couldn't bring myself to take it off. After 1 day I filed my nails, which should have made it more prone to chipping. Instead the polish lasted a full 5 days without any chips!

I absolutely adore this color I can't explain how much I love it. It's bright and soft, feminine but not too girly. Love! I did finally trade it in for a hot pink (Pretty Serious The Pink One) but I'll be wearing this polish again soon! What's on your nails today?

piCture pOlish Wisteria retails for around $12.50 USD and is available from Llarowe (USA), Harlow & Co. (CAN), and directly from piCture pOlish (AUS). Select piCture pOlishes are also available from Ninja Polish (USA) and Mei Mei's Signatures (SIN). 

piCture pOlish Focus Swatches

Today I want to share with you piCture pOlish Focus, which is truly one of my favorite new polishes I've purchased in the last few months. Focus was designed by Sheila of Pointless Cafe (also one of my favorite bloggers) and it's just so stunning.

Focus is a red-violet jelly base loaded with micro-flakes. Micro-flakes and glass flecks are right up there in my favorite polish finishes of all time, since they are just like glitter nails without the bumpy finish. Focus is an interesting color, in some lights it looks red violet or almost purple while in other lights it's fuchsia to me, but with a darker almost blackened look to it.

The formula of Focus was very good, like most of my piCture pOlishes. I used two coats for the pictures below, it applies beautifully and dries smooth. Although they come in a slightly smaller bottle than other brands, piCture pOlish is reasonably priced since they definitely make top quality polish.

The pictures show how pretty this color is, but they can't quite capture just how gorgeous and sparkly this finish is. This polish is so much prettier in person.

Have you tried piCture pOlish? Is Focus on your wishlist? :)

piCture pOlish O'Hara Swatches and Review.

My Stash

When I saw piCture pOlish O'Hara I absolutely had to have it! I'm a die-hard red polish fan, and have pretty much every variety of red polish that can be found. However, O'Hara is totally unique in my stash of reds! The only other red scttered holo I own is Ozotic 621, which is a very rusty red, leaning towards brown/orange.

piCture pOlish O'Hara is a gorgeous scarlet red with scattered holographic glitter. It's a bright red, well balanced, leaning more towards pink than either blue or orange. The holographic particles are suspended in a opaque red jelly, giving the polish so much depth. This finish is the same as piCture pOlish Cosmos and Kryptonite. I absolutely love this finish and can't wait to see more scattered holos from piCture pOlish.

This polish might be one of my favorite bright red polishes, it just has such a nice balanced red color, and it is sparkly and smooth. The formula was very easy to use (not too thick or too thin) and the photos are with two coats and one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Yikes, square edges on a photo! How did this happen? 

Don't you just love this red? piCture pOlish has so many fantastic, unique polishes!

piCture pOlish O'Hara retails for around $14.50 USD and is available from Llarowe (USA), Harlow & Co. (CAN), and directly from piCture pOlish (AUS). Select piCture pOlishes are also available from Ninja Polish (USA) and Mei Mei's Signatures (SIN). 

piCture pOlish Cosmos

Today I bring you one of the most perfect and gorgeous blue polishes I've ever owned: piCture pOlish Cosmos!

I fell in love with the piCture pOlish brand when I purchased the polish Kryptonite, a perfect, gorgeous dark green with big scattered holographic particles. The holo in Kryptonite was magical, and absolutely stunning. Since then piCture pOlish has introduced several more polishes with this same finish in different colors (the new Monroe, Cosmos and O'Hera). This is simply the most gorgeous polish finish that I've ever seen.

Cosmos is a rich dark blue with big scattered holographic particles. The particles shift silver, blue, green, and every other color in the rainbow. The base is a dense jelly, so it has the most incredible depth. I can't even come close to telling you just how gorgeous this polish is!

I have a feeling Cosmos will be making an apearance on a lot of favorite polish lists this year. It's simply divine. Have you tried piCture pOlish? They're definitely one of my favorite brands!

piCture pOlish Cosmos retails for around $14.50 USD and is available from Llarowe (USA), Harlow & Co. (CAN) (currently out of stock), and directly from piCture pOlish (AUS). Select piCture pOlishes are also available from Ninja Polish (USA) and Mei Mei's Signatures (SIN).