Dragon Scales

School starting has been so busy..I hope to post 2-3 times a week soon though. I did a pretty interesting konad manicure a few days ago but I waited until yesterday evening to take pictures so there is some wear showing in the pictures. I have no idea how I came up with this idea but I knew what colours I wanted to use so I went for it. Looking at it today I thought it looked like dragon scales so that's where the title comes from. The base colour I used is Misa Toxic Seduction, a gorgeous dark emerald green that doesn't look black in dim lighting or indoors. It looks pretty indoors but amazing in sunlight. I used an odd scale-y geometric pattern on the tips only using China Glaze Millennium. I can't remember what plate this is but when I get home I'll update this post.

The picture with the Misa bottle is a bit washed out, it was taken in direct sunlight. I absolutely love this colour, it's one of my favourite green polishes. (and I own lots of green polish!) It applies perfectly, just like all the others Misa's I own. It took two coats to become opaque.

Months ago I ordered from Fyrinnae and as soon as I tried the products I thought I should post a review and swatches of what I got. Well, its been almost a month and I still haven't done that. So sometime within the next week expect to see that. It will be kind of weird for me to write something non nail related but I felt these products were worth talking about. Here is a teaser:

Isn't it gorgeous? I love blue green colours! =) This colour looks much better in real life, I hope I am able to capture them well in my review.

One last thing: I need recommendations for a good yellow polish. One that applies well and goes on opaque. I would prefer it to be a mostly creme finish, but its okay if it has some very subtle shimmer. Here is a link to the colour I'm looking for: http://www.kijo.no/wp-content/uploads/pikachu-1zcp1gl.jpg
(Yes I know it's Pikachu, but that was the only thing I could think of that matches what kind yellow I want.)
One catch though, it must be able to be found at Sally's, Walgreens, Wal Mart, or Claires. Those are the only places around where I live that I can get polish. I have a nail art design I want to do and I need a yellow polish for it. (I do not have a yellow nail polish, warm colours are sparse in my collection..) This design in particular has been in my head since before I even started this blog so I am anxious to get it done. It was one of my first ideas and it doesn't involve the use of Konad. =)

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Scherer Chameleon Blue Sky Duochrome

Today was my first day of school and things went pretty well. I can't believe it's my senior year! I had to cut my nails shorter since I'm in the school orchestra and its impossible to play the violin well with long nails. I was a bit sad at first but I think they still look good. I know this sounds weird but I keep them a little longer on my right hand because I can grip the violin bow better that way. But my left hand has to be short so I can press down on the strings and use vibrato. Anyway, I painted my nails with a polish I bought at Rite Aid before I even started this blog. It's by a brand called Scherer and they call their polishes 'Chameleon'. They all have a pretty strong duochrome, colour changing effect, almost similar to mood rings. This one is called Scherer Chameleon Blue Sky. The name doesn't really fit because blue isn't really the dominant colour in this and it shows up more in the bottle than on the nail.

The application on this polish was horrible...it dried so quickly that it was difficult to apply cleanly and it streaked. I got it to look decent once I figured out how to work the formula. I also encountered bubbling and major brush strokes. The brush didn't fan out very well either, which also contributed to the brush strokes. Despite all the issues I still think its pretty and an interesting polish. It is also fairly cheap so if you really like colours like this and can deal with the formula this is a fun polish to wear. From far away you don't notice the imperfections so much. The colour changing effect is just as noticeable indoors as it is outdoors. I found these at Rite Aid and I believe they were 2 or 3 dollars. I have a few more of these I might try out...I hope the formula on the others is a bit easier to work with but I'm not expecting much. 

The last two pictures I'm holding my crab apple tree that is in my front yard. I heard from one of my neighbors (who has lived in my neighborhood for a long time) that this tree has been there as long as she could remember. I've never eaten one of the crab apples but one of my friends did a while ago and told me they were sour. This tree blooms bright pink during spring, the petals almost resemble cherry blossoms. 

What do you think of this Chameleon polish? Have you seen or tried these? 

Peace and Love,

Serena

Quick Tag/First Day of Senior Year

Hello everyone! I've been so busy lately, and probably will be for a week longer. I started my senior year of high school today and I'm currently on break at my Graphic Arts class. I'll have an actual nail post up later today but I wanted to do this tag that I was tagged in awhile ago.  Feel free to use this tag on your own blog if you want to.

4 things in my bag/purse:

- Cell phone

- iPod

- keys

- Stride Gum (Spearmint)

4 favorite things in my room

- Bookshelf

- Bed

-  Nail Polish

- My kitty! (At least she was when I left this morning...)

4 things I’ve always wanted to do

- Go to Japan

- Learn multiple languages

- Try a water marble manicure

- learn to make sushi

4 things I’m currently into

- Nail polish!

- Vintage clothing

- Japanese music

- Drawing

4 things I bet you didn't know about me
- My hair is dyed black with a purple "sheen"
- I have a boyfriend named Chase who hates to hear me ramble about nail polish.
- I'm 17 years old
- I play the violin

4 songs I can't get out of my head

- Hohemi no Bakuden (japanese song)

-  I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher

- Paparazzi by Lady GaGa (even though I don't care for her music, her songs get stuck in my head!)

- THE MOON by 12012 (12012 is a great Japanese rock band!)

Rules:

once tagged you must link the person who tagged you

tag 4 others

let the bloggers know they have been tagged

give 4 answers to each question asked

I tag...everyone! If you're reading this right now and want to post this feel free to do so and mention you got it from me if you want to. (I know I broke the rules by not tagging specific people..)


I'll post my back to school manicure later today!


Peace and Love,
Serena

It's a Mermaid? It's a Butterfly?? It's a Comet???

Hello! The base colour for today's manicure is OPI Catch Me In Your Net. As most of you probably know there are two known dupes for this colour: Zoya Charla and Orly Halley's Comet. When I first saw Zoya Charla I thought it was a really beautiful, unique polish so it surprises me that two dupes have shown up for it. All You Desire has a great comparison of all three of these polishes so check that out  here. Before I show the manicure I want to explain the title. Zoya Charla instantly reminded me of a mermaid when I first saw swatches of it. Then when the OPI Summer Flutter collection came out, OPI compared it to a butterfly. Now with the Orly Comic FX Collection it's a comet! Since these colours are really close dupes the Orly seems to be the cheapest option if you purchase it on Transdesign. Catch Me In Your Net took 3 coats to become opaque and it is really beautiful, in shade and in sunlight. Of course I can't leave any polish untouched, so I applied a konad design to it. I was afraid the konad might overshadow the pretty base but I really like this design.

I used Konad plate S06 and Konad White Special Polish. I'm getting better at centering the designs but I need to get better at stamping my pinkie nail. I'm going to Kansas City this weekend so I won't be back until Monday. Also, school is starting for me soon (I'll be a senior in high school) so bare with me because for the next week or so I will be busier than usual. Soon I will get adjusted in to my school schedule and I hope to start posting more often. I really enjoy blogging and hearing all of your comments. Thanks to all of you who are following me, I appreciate it!

What do you all think of all the Zoya Charla dupes out there? Which one do you have/want?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Fun with CND Effects Amethyst Sparkle

Konnichiwa! (That's Japanese for Good Afternoon.) I wanted to play around with layering combinations so I decided to try out CND Effects Amethyst Sparkle. I chose to layer it over Misa That's My Little Secret. I've only worn this colour once and it sort of bored me. It is a medium raspberry creme, applied perfectly in almost one coat. Applying Amethyst Sparkle over this made it much more interesting for me. It transforms it from a plain berry creme to a sparkling red toned purple. It looks very 'fall' to me, which is fitting since its getting closer and closer to that time of year. I don't really coordinate my polish with the seasons all that much. Last winter I was wearing neons! Taking these pictures was painful, it is 105 degrees here with 14 mph winds. The wind isn't cooling either, its hot!

I really love the way this looks, I'm anxious to try Amethyst Sparkle over other colours...I wonder how it would look over yellow? Here is an extra picture I took when I realized the base Misa colour almost matches my car:

Thanks for reading!
Peace and Love,
Serena

Polish that changes in the sun?

I decided to try out the Del Sol nail polish I purchased a while back. (I got this one at the Del Sol store in Virginia Beach.) I'm not new to Del Sol's nail polishes, a few years ago my mom brought some back for me from San Diego. The one I purchased is a warm hot pink with a bit of gold shimmer in it. In the sun, it turns to a warm purple with gold shimmer. The name of this particular one is Girl's Night Out. I have been thinking of various layering combinations lately and I decided I wanted to try OPI Stars in My Eyes over this one. I didn't even think about if it would change the way the colour looked in the sun, but for the most part it didn't. Here is what the polish looks like indoors: (Excuse the bad indoor picture, I'm not so good at taking pictures indoors..)

And outdoors, it looks like this:

You can get Del Sol nail polishes on there website here: http://www.delsol.com/store/Accessories___Nail_Polish?Args=&page_number=1  If you live close to a Del Sol store I recommend buying it there so you can see the colours in person. (And its cheaper to buy them in store.) They are 8 dollars in store and 10 dollars plus shipping online. These polishes are really fun but the formula is thick and they take longer to dry than most polishes. I have two more of these so if you're interested in seeing more let me know.
Layering the OPI over the konad was probably a bad idea because it smeared the design, but I still like it. I really want to do more layering so I will have another layering experiment up soon.

Peace and Love,
Serena

Awesome European Giveaway!

Hello everyone! I don't have nails to show you today but I do have an awesome giveaway to tell you about. (I will have something nail related to show you either tomorrow or the day after.) Anyways, Mon coin a moua is having a giveaway featuring European beauty products! Here is a look at some of the things you could win:

This giveaway is open to everyone, all you have to do is become a follower and post a comment with your name and email address. More info here: http://moncoinamoua.blogspot.com/2010/07/euro-mazing-giveaway.html

Peace and Love,
Serena

Polka Dot Nail Art using Nubar Nail Art Pen

Hello! I meant to post this Saturday but I actually had a somewhat busy weekend. I wanted to do something simple so I used the Nubar Nail Art pen to do a polka dot manicure. I really like these nail art pens, they have a pen tip for dotting and fine details, and a thin brush for lines. I have two of these nail art pens, one is navy blue and the other is blue-green. Here are pictures of one of my nail art pens: (I took a picture of the blue green one because it's easier to see the label on it.)

 You can get these on Nubar's website here: http://www.bynubar.com/store/index.php?p=home . They are $7 each. On the bottom under the label there is a small needle you can use if your pen tip gets clogged up. I have seen similar nail art pens at Claire's for five dollars but I don't have any to compare.

Anyway, now onto the manicure! The base colour I used is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue. It was very opaque and almost perfect in one coat, I did two. Then I used my Nubar Nail Art pen to paint the dots. The pen tip is perfect for dotting but make sure your base colour is completely dry. Also, wait a good 20 or so minutes before putting on topcoat because you could smear your design.

I have been wearing this for 3 days when I took this so excuse the bit of wear. Have you tried Nubar's Nail Art Pens, or Claire's?
Peace and Love,
Serena

Konad with China Glaze Millenium

The concept was cute, but the execution needs work.

That's how I feel about the Konad design I did today. I still have on the Claire's mood nail polish, even though I don't really care for it all that much. Today I got a good idea for a Konad design. Since I already had the base colour on it took less than ten minutes to stamp all my nails. I stamped my nails with China Glaze Millenium using plate m60. The design looks smeared on my nails even though I still haven't applied any topcoat. The design also didn't stick as well as normal.

I really like the idea of the design and the colours I used. I've heard that these mood polishes chip easily but I've kept my left hand without topcoat and I've only experienced minimal tip wear. I'll probably be removing this design tomorrow so have something new soon!

Peace and Love,
Serena

Claire's Mood Nail Polish: Peaceful/Confident

Yesterday I went to the mall with my sister and I decided to check out Claire's to see if I could find their mood polishes. They were 5 dollars each but they were having a buy one get on half off deal. The two I got both dry matte. I don't know about the other one I got but this one applied horribly. It was really thick and streaky. If you went over the same spot twice it would remove all the polish on that side. In the end it all dried smoothly but due to the uneven application I needed 3 coats. I wasn't sure if top coat would interfere with the colour changing so I didn't apply topcoat to my left hand, only my right. The topcoat didn't effect it at all so if you're not a fan of neon mattes it will still change with top coat. The weather here is so hot I ended up having to take a cup full of ice water outside with me to get pictures of the colour change. I tried taking pictures indoors but they all turned out bad and didn't show much colour change. I took these pictures with Orly Ridgefiller because I found the Claires bottle awkward to hold and get good pictures. The first picture is what it looks like hot (confident), the second is with cold tips and the third is what it looks like cold (peaceful).

The change isn't as drastic as I thought it would be, but its still noticeable. For some reason the change shows up more on my right hand, the one I don't take a picture of! I think I might do some Konad/Nail Art to this one tomorrow....

Have you tried any of these Claire's Mood Polishes?
Peace and Love,
Serena