Nail Art: Art Club Technicolor Doll

Art Club is known for making some of the best nail art polishes on the market. They're what you call 'striper' (not stripper, that's another post for another time) polishes. They're called that because they have a very long skinny brush instead of a normal polish brush and it's perfect for making stripes and other nail art.

Art Club just released the Technicolor Doll nail art kit to coincide with the release of Color Club's Electro Candy collection for summer. The kit includes:

5 Neon Stripers: Technicolor Doll, Psychedelic Dream, Paisley Paradise, Electric Universe, Cosmic Creature
2 jars of sprinkles: Aqua Charms, Fuchsia Charms
3 Self-Stick Decal Sheets: Floral Decal, Heart Decal and Swirl Decal.

They paid so much attention to detail on the packaging on this kit, it's absolutely beautiful. They even made a really pretty handle for it!



The model for the advertisement has such amazing makeup, too. I never remember to take a picture of the advertisement. She has neon yellow and green eyeshadow with black double-winged liquid liner. Gorgeous, I'm going to steal that look this week.


Anyway, there's the whole kit. Let's move on to the nail art.

Anyone can do this nail art, it's not difficult. The only extra equipment required will be black polish and a dotting tool if you want to do the dots.


Let's start off with something extra simple:




I love the combination of neon and black, it reminds me of the 90's. The 90's rocked.


If that design isn't interesting enough, you can spice it up a little bit with your dotting tool:



But if you're like me and want something a little more over the top, break out the sprinkles! I used Fuchsia Charms:



One interesting thing about the charms- if you peel one of them off after your polish has dried, it will leave a flower-shaped hole in your polish. It almost looks intentional, pretty cool actually.


Let's try another design with dots!



A simple, bright look with a base of Color Club Volt of Light.

Not colorful enough? Try adding more colors.



And one more very simple design:

This is neon pink and green, but it came out looking more like Christmas with snowflakes! So, hey, why not sport a Christmas manicure in April? This one used the Aqua Charms.


Now here's something a little more involved.

Marbling. It's really not difficult at all, you just need to work quickly because these neon colors dry very fast. Start with a base of a color you like and then add as many colors as you want to the nail. Take a toothpick or needle (I just used my small dotting tool) and swirl the colors around.

And now that we've seen abstract, let's go back to something more geometric.



In 1995 I had a coat that looked like this.

I also had one that looked like this.

Of course, those designs weren't awesome enough for me so I had to take it one step further...

I added one of the 'swirl' decals (looks more like a butterfly to me) to make it more interesting.

I took these pictures while the polish was still wet, so please excuse the weird thickness of the polish. It goes away when it dries, I promise.


I really love nail art. I wish I was able to do it more often!


The Art Club striper polishes are perfect. The polish is opaque, it dries quickly and the brushes are just the right firmness. Since this kit contains neon polishes, you will need a topcoat if you want them to look shiny. I used Seche Vite, but I bet the Color Club Vivid Color Intensifying topcoat would work well on these too.

Claire's Mixables and random fun poll.

I've been dying to see those Claire's Mixables ever since I first heard about them... You know, those polishes that have three colors in one bottle and are supposed to be a surprise color? I hate going to the mall and haven't worked up the nerve to go there and look for them, so I had just about given up on them.

However, my awesome mom got me a couple for Christmas! I have the best mom in the whole world :)


Jinglebell. It's a Christmas-themed polish! Sweeeeeet! It has a top layer of white, middle layer of light green and the bottom is red glitter. The bottle says DO NOT SHAKE, but I had this laying on its side and the layers got a little messed up. I don't think it had any effect on the polish. The color just seems to be white with some red streaks. I don't know how these work.... I would think the colors would end up all mixed up anyway, but they aren't! Crazy. It blows my mind.


Mixable. Yes, apparently that's the name. It has a neon green top layer, a bright yellow middle layer and a bright blue layer on the bottom. The polish applies as a neon green with some yellow streaks. This picture isn't really color-accurate because I couldn't get the neon green to photograph properly. It's more along the lines of Color Club Limelight- bright, glowy, vibrant neon green.


I can not for the life of me figure out the secret to these. How do they not just mix together?! When I look in the bottle, all I see is the top color with a few streaks of the middle color. Even swirling the brush around doesn't give me a mixed color. How do they do it?! I think my brain is going to explode!!

Despite their mysterious nature, they are still really awesome. The polishes apply very well. The white is nice and opaque, smooth and not too chalky, and the green is your average neon green that dries quickly to a matte finish. I would definitely get the rest of these if I ever got the chance to.


On a totally unrelated note, I've been thinking. You guys all come here and listen to me babble about what I like and what I don't like, and it's all me all the time, right? Well, I want to hear about you! I've met so many other nail fanatics since creating this blog and I never would have guessed that there were so many people who like nail polish and makeup as much as I do.

So I swiped one of these online poll things and added a couple of my own questions just so I could get to know my awesome readers a little better.

Post a comment with your answers, and I'll post mine here!

What is your favorite food?
I don't think I can pick one favorite, but I really love vegetables, steak and pumpkin pie.

What is your favorite season?
FALL!!! I wish it could be October all year.

What is your favorite color?
I can't pick favorites!!! I really like purple, though.

What is your favorite animal?
Well, I can't think of a single animal I don't like, but I'd say dogs are my favorite. I really, really love dogs. I also have a soft spot for rodents.

What are your top five favorite songs at the moment?
Iced Earth - Wolf
VNV Nation - Rubicon
Finntroll - Trollvisan
Das Ich - Schwanenschrei
Grendel - Nothing Like Senses
Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains - Thai Noodles
Wumpscut - War
(I can't pick just five!! Arrrgh!!! )

If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?
Japan!! Then Germany, then Finland, Norway, Sweden... Actually, I'd love to go everywhere. I want to travel the world!

And one last question...
How did you find my blog?
Well... um... I write it.... XD

Can't wait to see your answers :)

Awesome color change polish!

I was at Big Lots the other day, hoping to find some old Sally Hansen or Maybelline polishes (no luck! Just some old Revlons) when I came across these awesome solar polishes!

They didn't really interest me until I noticed that the package said "color changing". Color changing?! Hell yes! Gimme!

These are like the Del Sol color change polishes which I've been meaning to post for months....

There's Christmas Cookie...


Christmas Cookie, before, indoors.


Take it outside and it immediately becomes this!! How awesome!!


Holiday Mint before...



Holiday Mint after!




Sugared Pear before.


Sugared Pear after.

I'm not sure if these are scented or not. The names lead me to believe that they are, but the ingredients don't list fragrance as a component, so I'm thinking they don't. I would love it if they were!

These change colors super fast. As soon as I stepped outside with these, BAM! Presto change-o. Awesome.

And the best thing? Each two-pack cost me $1.50. The label said the price was $1.87, but they each rang up $1.50 instead. Score!

So cool! I'd love to see a major polish company do a color change polish. Can you imagine all the color combinations that could exist? I even heard of a group of girls in England (I think) who came up with a polish that was clear indoors and colored when exposed to sunlight.

This is a really cool concept. Mood polishes, solar color change polishes, those old mood lipsticks that turned hot pink no matter what your mood was, that crappy Smashbox blush that also turns hot pink no matter what.... When I was a little kid, I used to have these gloves that would change color and show extra pictures when you played in the snow with them. I've been obsessed with things that changed color ever since. My husband and I even exchanged mood rings when we first met.

I wonder what other cool color change cosmetics are out there waiting for me to find them...

Zoya and Qtica Holiday Gift Sets

Every year I say, "Oh, I'm going to get my Christmas shopping done early, I'm going to have everything all wrapped up weeks before Christmas! I'm not going to be one of those crazy people out shopping on Christmas Eve..."

And every year, inevitably, I end up being one of those crazy people out shopping on Christmas Eve. Every. Single. Year.

Instead of doing what I do, why not just shop online? No crowds full of hacking, coughing people and snotty-nosed kids running through the store screaming while their parents are busy elbowing you in the ribs to get the last insert popular item here off of the shelf before you do....

One thing I really love are gift sets. I've always been attracted to gift sets. The way they're packaged with special shiny paper, all the little products inside all lined up and pretty looking. I just love them! When the gift sets are filled with beauty products, it's even better.

Not very many nail companies do good gift sets (or any gift sets for that matter). OPI has some minis and little bottles of lotion, Essie does some minis, CND sometimes has special polish... Nothing impressive, really. Nothing even different than what they do the rest of the year.

So who has the best gift sets? That would be Zoya. They're actual, useful, jam-packed full of awesomeness, honest-to-goodness gift sets. I'll show you a few of my favorites (the ones I'd love to unwrap on Christmas morning instead of another pair of driving gloves.)

In my opinion, this is the best gift set of them all. It has all of my favorite things! The Holiday Nail Gift Kit has three of "my holy grail" products: Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, Qtica Intense Cuticle Repair Balm and Qtica Half Time Polish Drying Accelerator, plus one product I like but just don't use all that often- Qtica Extending Topcoat. I would love to receive this gift, and I'd love to give this gift as well. At $25, it's a very affordable gift to give. It's also a great deal- it comes with full size products, and the Nail Growth Stimulator alone costs $20.

The Natural Nail Growth Stimulator had me skeptical at first, but after using it consistently for months, it's all I use now. I'm sold. It really does help my nails grow quickly! You can see the evidence just by looking at the pictures I post here. I really like this base coat. It helps prevent staining, it helps my nails grow, and even though Zoya says there aren't whitening ingredients in it, I feel like it really brightens my nails.

The Cuticle Repair Balm is just amazing. It's not greasy or liquidy- it might take a while to get used to because it's so different from the usual cuticle products. It's a thick, rich, heavy-duty balm that really hydrates and locks in moisture. It even lasts through hand washing. I use this when I've been neglecting my cuticles and doing heavy cleaning without gloves, and it pretty much fixes them immediately. It also has no scent, so it won't bother you if you're sensitive to scents.

The Half Time Drops are a total staple for me. I was introduced to them when they were included in my first Zoya order as a gift with purchase, and I've been hooked ever since. You apply it to your nails after you put on your topcoat and it helps the polish dry faster. I notice that when I don't use the drops, it does take longer for the polish to dry. I don't know how this works, but it does. It also has the added bonus of preventing dents while your polish is wet. The oil adds a layer of protection that you don't get with just a quick dry topcoat. It makes the polish a lot more forgiving- you won't be able to smudge them or dent them as easily while they're drying. Again, no idea how this works, but it does, and now I use them all the time.

My second favorite gift set is this one. It's called the Holiday Mini-cure, but I call it genius. Genius! It's a mini color lock system, a mini bottle of Remove+ (the Cadillac of Polish Removers) and a mini bottle of Zoya Lacquer in Shiloh. It's like an Intro to Zoya set.

Two reasons I think this is a smart gift set:
1. Maybe you don't want to drop the $36 on the full-size Color Lock System because you've never used it before and don't know if you'll like it, but you still want to try it. This set is $15, comes with the entire system in mini size, PLUS a mini polish. If you don't like it you're not stuck with full size bottles that you spent a lot on. If you do like it, this brings me to my second reason...

2. It's a portable nail survival kit! Maybe you travel a lot, or maybe you're like me and like to always be prepared. This kit has everything you need in one place, but takes up very little space because it's mini! You can keep it in your purse or your car or your desk for a nail emergency.

Like I said, it's an Intro to Zoya. Great idea, especially for people who like to have long-lasting manicures. They also have just the Color Lock items- Anchor, Armor and Hurry Up- in a mini trio for $12.


And my third favorite gift are the Color Cubes. It's a cute little set with a full size Zoya Hot Lips gloss/balm plus a coordinating mini Zoya polish for only $8. It's a perfect stocking stuffer, or a good inexpensive yet still luxurious gift that I'm sure any girl would love. My top picks would be:

• Enchanted Evening which has Hot Lips in Starlet (which is drop-dead gorgeous) and mini lacquer in Evangeline. The colors would be flattering on most skintones, and the colors are not too flashy but still unique.
• Sugar Plum Party which has a Hot Lips in Visa and a mini lacquer in Casey. Casey is one of the most gorgeous vampy colors in existence. It's impossibly stylish and very sexy.
• Fairy Dust includes Hot Lips in Paparazzi and mini lacquer in Austine. Gold is hot for the holiday season, and these are two nice, wearable metallic gold shades.
  

Really, all of them are nice sets, but those are my favorites.

I'm really impressed with Zoya's gift sets. They're all practical yet lovely. For the price, you wouldn't expect something as nice as these. I'm on a super-tight budget this year, and the prospect of being able to give gifts that are affordable but still *nice* and useful makes me very happy. I might have a hard time giving these because I want to keep them for myself... Heh. *shifty eyes*

Blue Cross Holiday Polishes - Snowmen and Ornaments

I'm a huge fan of anything seasonal and festive- I wear jack-o-lantern perfume in October and I'm not at all opposed to wearing a kooky Christmas sweater in December, so , naturally, when I saw these little cuties sitting on a grocery store cosmetics shelf it was love at first sight. (Wow, that was one terrible sentence. Yikes.)

The first thing that caught my eye was a set of mini glitter polishes. None of them have names, but the set is labelled "Ornaments." My favorite of the bunch (and the only one I've photographed so far) is this purple jelly glitter. At first it seemed like a purple version of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, but it reminds me more of Zoya Roxy on the nail. I wish this came in a full size.



(That looks like a cat hair on my index finger... I have no idea where that came from. )


Slightly different lighting.

The other colors in the set are all jelly glitters- green, pale blue, red, and clear-ish with pastel glitter. I have heard rumors that there are sets with different colors, but my store only had one set.

Next to the Ornaments set was a display full of the cutest little polishes ever- Snowman head-shaped bottles with super awesome glitter polishes inside!

My favorite is this red and green glitter:


This lighting shows the red more...


But this lighting shows the green a little better.

I just loooooove this polish! I've worn it three times since I bought it. It looks great on its own- these pictures are three coats- but it looks way more cool over black. One coat over black is super sparkly and festive, but since you're only doing one coat the red and green don't blend to make a brown look. Love it love it love it! I haven't tried this over white or other colors, but I'm sure it would look awesome. Maybe over gold too! The glitter in the red and green snowman is very fine, almost microglitter. It's nice and smooth and not difficult to remove.

The other colors I picked up were a hot pink shimmer and a red and silver glitter.


This is the hot pink...


... Which seems totally out of place among the wintery, Christmassy holiday colors.




This is the red and silver glitter....


... A medium sized red and silver glitter in a red jelly base.


These are only a few of the colors I saw on the display. I believe there was a black, a shimmery white, maybe a few others- but these were the sparkliest ones, so these were the ones that caught my eye and came home with me.

If you can tell from my pictures, they snowmen have little hats! How cute is that?

CHI Holiday Earth Tone Collection

I just got my latest issue of Nails magazine, and there's a full page ad for this GORGEOUS trio of CHI polishes. Razzle Dazzle, a shimmery golden metallic, Out Of Town Brown which appears to be an OPI Music Hall Curtain Call dupe and Last Minute Shopper Copper, which is a shimmery metallic copper that looks a little duochromey.

Again, I'm lamenting my lack of a scanner cause I'd love to post this picture.

My point in posting this: I WANT THESE!!

I have no idea where to get CHI polishes anymore, Ulta seems to have phased them out and I've never seen them anywhere else. Any ideas? Somewhere online??

Swatches: China Glaze Sleigh Ride

The Sleigh Ride trio is a set of three festive Christmas-themed glitters- Ruby Pumps (an old favorite), Tinsel and the brand spankin' new Emerald Sparkle. When you buy the trio they include a cute mini holiday-print nail file. Cute!

I'm freakin' thrilled to death with these. Emerald Sparkle could be my new #1 favorite polish. It's so unbelievably stunning- I can hardly contain my excitement over it. Observe:


Here's the set- three full sized bottles. Not minis! I had assumed they would be minis. They're not, yay!



Emerald Sparkle. I think my brain is going to short circuit. Am I really wearing this??? Is it real??? It's a deep emerald green base with tons of fine bright green glitter. It has depth, shimmer, sparkle, vibrant color, everything.... What's not to love? It even applied well! It only needs two coats, too. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ruby Pumps. Is it me, or is the new version slightly lighter than the old version? I'll have to go digging for my old bottle to compare, but it seems like it is. It's still gorgeous- golden orangey red glitter in a red jelly base. It looks lit from within. This is two coats.


Tinsel. A sheer silver glitter in what appears to be a sheer silver base. Very pretty, sparkly and delicate. Not too gaudy, either. The glitter is very fine, not chunky or rough. Takes three coats to achieve opacity.


I was also pleasantly surprised by how well these applied after all the bad luck I've been having with China Glaze lately. They were a little on the runny side, but that's definitely a huge improvement over the thick and gooey formulas I've been bitching about... All three of these polishes are winners- no complaints about any of them! They're perfect. Emerald Sparkle is pure genius.

I can even see glitter-haters loving Emerald Sparkle. It's too sexy not to love.