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?

Pretty Serious Santa's Sunburn Swatch

Today I have another gorgeous red to share with you, this is the red hot Pretty Serious Santa's Sunburn. Santa's Sunburn was released as part of the Christmas Without Snow (Holiday 2012) collection, but it's definitely a fiery summer red! Since Pretty Serious is an Australian brand, Christmas coincides with the sizzling Australian summer!

Santa's Sunburn is a stunning saturated red so bright that it practically glows. I can't say that the red leans in any particular direction because it is so overwhelmingly red that it doesn't seem either blue or orange toned. The finish is a fine shimmer, very smooth and blackened around the edges. For some reason the photos make it look like there were visible brushstrokes, but there aren't any in person. The formula was smooth and easy to apply, this is two coats plus topcoat.

Another thing I love about Pretty Serious polishes is the adorable box they come in! This one is the Christmas edition, where Daphne (the Pretty Serious mascot/poster girl) is wearing an adorable hat and holiday outfit.

This is a red not for the faint of heart! This is the hottest, brightest red I own, and completely unique in my collection.

Pretty Serious Santa's Sunburn retails for $9.95 AUD and is available directly from Pretty Serious (AUS) and also from Llarowe (USA).

Butter London Chancer (Photo Heavy)

I have to admit something to you, I've been hoarding these pictures for quite some time (my complete lack of a tan is a clue as to how long they've been waiting in my blog folder for). This polish, for once, simply took my words away! What do you say about a polish that perfectly captures everything you love?  I was speechless.

Butter London Chancer is a deep red jelly loaded with red glitter. While it is a blue-toned red, it's still quite balanced, and perfectly deep and rich. Unlike the similar China Glaze Ruby Pumps, the glitter in Chancer is larger and the base color is just a little bit darker. As a glitter, this formula was a bit thick, but not too hard to deal with. Chancer dries to a bit of a rough finish that is smoothed out with two coats of topcoat.

This is the perfect polish for the holidays (or any other time you want a glowing red glitter) but I just love Chancer so much. It's perfect!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to all of my followers from the USA! I had big plans to do nail art for today, but they fell through along with my busy schedule. Last July I wasn't terribly talented when it came to nail art, and I'm confident I could do better than last year given the time! What I did do for today was add some nail foils and striping tape to a red manicure for a patriotic skittlette manicure!

The red is Pretty Serious Hell on Wheels (swatches on that polish coming soon). The blue nail foil also looks much prettier in person, it looks grainy in texture here for some reason, but in person it is very holographic and gorgeous. I'm getting a bit better at the nail foils and there's hardly any wrinkles this time. I also wish it didn't highlight how short my ring finger nail is after an unfortunate break, but that's life. :)

Overall, this is a sad quick manicure for a busy schedule, what do you think?

Cult Nails Time Traveler Swatches and Review

Has anyone noticed that my last three posts are red, white, and blue? It happened accidentally, but what a funny way to say Happy 4th of July week to all of my American followers (and I hope all of my Canadian followers had a wonderful Canada Day!).

Today I have Cult Nails Time Traveler. This is a polish I purchased long ago and only got around to swatching recently. At the time I was in the search of the perfect navy blue, but after becoming a massive Doctor Who fan in the last year I just love that it's an homage to TARDIS blue. :)

Anyway, on with the polish. Time Traveler is a slightly dusty navy blue crelly (it's a bit too opaque to be a jelly in my book). This one is incredibly dark and opaque, and I used two smooth coats for the photos below. Like many dark blues, this one will stain if you get it on your cuticles, so careful application is crucial! It dries to an incredibly shiny dark blue, and the photos below are without top coat.

Removal wasn't as bad as I expected with such a dark blue, I was very careful to apply acetone to the nail and wipe straight downwards away from my cuticle, and didn't end up with much staining. With a dark blue like this I highly suggest applying lotion or cuticle oil right before polish removal, and using as many cotton balls/removal pads as possible. Moisturized hands will resist staining more than dry hands, and new cotton balls because the more you smear that dark blue cotton ball on your fingers, the more that blue is going to stain!

Overall, this is simply a beautiful blue! It's a bit darker than I expected (and I think just a bit darker than the TARDIS) but that dusty shade is absolutely perfect. :)