Love & Beauty - "Greys"

Good evening!

It has been a long 14 days since my last post. In that post 14 days ago, I mentioned that I had been enthralled in a book. That is still true, except it is a different book now. TOO MANY HOBBIES! 

Anyway, below are some fantastical photos of a couple of nail polishes that my friend Maryana gave me. These polishes are from Forever 21, and both of them are labeled as "Grey". 

Click to enlarge!

Is that darker grey not gorgeous?! It has a golden/greenish shimmer to it that is really eye-catching. I love it. And Forever 21 polishes are so cheap! The labels on these bottles say $2.80, but every time I go in that store they are on sale for even cheaper. 

Click to enlarge!

So this particular post seems like a great opportunity to mention that I prefer to spell the word "GRAY" with an *A* and not an *E*. I've used the E up to this point because that is how it is spelled on the label on the bottles, but I felt the need to clarify that I am an A kind of girl.  I'm aware that it is technically correct either way, but I just get all irritable when I see it spelled with an E. 

Click to enlarge!

The formula on these polishes is great. I had no issues at all with the application. What you see in all the photos is two coats of each color, also with a base coat and top coat. I also used Essie's Luxeffects - Set In Stones to add a little bit of sparkle to my accent nail. 

Click to biggify!

Click to enlarge!

It is practically impossible to detect on the nail, but the lighter gray polish has a slight shimmer in it as well. It is a silvery shimmer in the bottle, which I tried to show in the photo above. 

Well, I think I covered all the basic important stuff. My job is done here. :)

--Dixie

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Grapefruit Nail Art

Get your sunglasses ready... I may have played with some bright colors!

I decided to do citrus-y type nail art and was pretty impressed with how it turned out. It's far from perfect, but you can tell what it is supposed to be, right? :)

All photos are clickable to enlarge!

The pretty neon green is China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard. This is from their Summer Neons 2012 Collection. I saw this color swatched on other blogs and definitely had to have it. I LOVE green.

Here's the grapefruit (or orange) on my right hand. Which means I painted it with my left hand. It's not terribly intricate stuff, but I'm still really amazed by my artistic abilities. ;)

For the nail art, I just used a very fine-tipped art brush. I blobbed out each color onto a sheet of foil as I needed it. 

Macro Shot!

The formula of China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard is lovely. The first coat can be a little streaky or bald, but it only takes two coats to get full opacity. You don't need "underwear" to make it as bright as it is in these photos. That's the annoying thing about a lot of neons, but none of these need a base of white.

All of the pretty colors I used

From left to right: OPI - MonSooner or Later, Essie - Lights, Wet N Wild Wild Shine - Sunny Side Up,  China Glaze - Sun-Kissed, China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard, Essie Luxeffects - Shine of the Times.

Thanks for taking a peek at my nails. Hope your eyes re-adjust quickly. ;)

Also... DON'T FORGET to check out my giveaway! It ends this Sunday at midnight!

--Dixie

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Revlon - Bold Sangria & Essie Luxeffects Pure Pearlfection

Happy Tuesday!!

(I'll give you a minute or two while your eyes adjust to my new layout.)

Today I have a manicure I did a while back, but I really wanted to share it because it involves one of my current favorite lines of nail polish... Revlon Colorstay.

As usual, all photos are clickable to enlarge.

Without flash.

It is very difficult to see from this photograph, but Bold Sangria is a deep plum color. At least that is how I would describe it. My husband tells me I'm colorblind. Anyway... moving on. :)

Without flash.

To make things a little less boring, I added a simple accent nail with Pure Pearlfection from Essie's Luxeffects collection. I thought about doing it on all of my nails, but Bold Sangria is so yummy by itself I couldn't bring myself to do it. :D

With flash.

In this photo taken with the flash you can get a better idea of the color of this polish. Wouldn't you say plum-ish?

And similarly to the other polishes from this collection, I would describe this as a creamy jelly. It's super shiny, with a little help from the Seche Vite top coat. It applied like a dream in two coats, and lasted for about 4-5 days before it started to fall apart.

Macro shot of accent nail.

Macro shot.

It was a little difficult for me to get a good macro shot of this color, but I did my best. I hope you enjoy this color as much as I did, although this seems to be a little out of season now.

Thanks for gawking at my nails!

--Dixie

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