Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Two Faced - My First Chromaflair Franken!

So, I'm guessing that some of you are jumping for joy at the thought of having your own Chromaflair supplier and some of you are wondering what Chromaflair is. Maybe you've seen those awesome indies that shift strongly to multiple colors in all their metallic goodness? Oh yes my friends, THAT is Chromaflair. I stumbled upon a storenvy shop I believe through Nail Nation 3000 and a giveaway she was having not too long ago. That shop is Spectraflair4u and good grief did the heavens open up when that web page did. This site has multiple sizes of Spectraflair (which I will show you in it's full glory in a bit) as well as 3 kinds of Chromaflair (Blue/red, Silver/green, and Cyan/purple). I purchased the Blue/red and have a franken to show you using it!

I started off with about 3/4 of a bottles worth of TKB Luster Base. Next I added 3 drops of TKB Black Nail Polish Colorant to help with the shift, 4 drops of Spectraflair4u Red/blue Chromaflair colorant (orders from the site come with there own dropette to help measure drops while mixing), and finally, added one small scoop of TKB Her Majesty Reflecks (a purple toned blue micro glitter) for a little extra oomph. Check out THIS deliciousness, I called it Two Face for obvious reasons!

If angels singing had a visual, I'm pretty sure that would be it.




Check out that gorgeous shimmer goodness


And behold… the shift!



How amazeballs is that? The shift was strong but impossible to photograph. Swatches show one thick coat over a dark midnight blue Sally Hansen Insta-Dry (can't remember the color :^/). This polish shifts from a dark royal blue, through to purple, and finally to a golden yellow. I intentionally made the color somewhat sheer until I figure out how the colorant worked with a base. The answer is, it worked beautifully! The polish was smooth and the formula was silky!

Well that's all for today my friends! See you next time for more franken awesomeness! But until then, remember to keep it classy and creative!

xo

Today's Supplies Are From:
* TKB Luster Base, Her Majest Reflecks, and Black Nail polish Base: TKB Trading
* Chromaflair Colorant: Spectraflair4u





Monday, February 24, 2014

Ruby White Tips - Mystery Polish

*Product was purchased by me at a blogger discount*
*However, all opinions are my own*

Man, weekends just fly by don't they? Wish my Mondays flew by as fast! But at least I get to finish my Sundays off with the Walking Dead! Is anyone else a fan? This is one of the few shows that my fiancé and I watch religiously every week. But I digress from my Mondays, and ultimately from the last awesome polish pretty I have to show you today!

I got this polish from the maker Laura as a kind of experiment  (or prototype?) to swatch. She described it as a "kind of duo chrome with blue sparkles." What Laura did say was that when you get a mystery box, you too could get a mystery color with your name on it that may not be for regular sale. Cool right?! So, let's check out this mystery polish shall we?






Next couple of photos show one coat of the mystery polish over a dark blue Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Shimmer that I cant' remember the name of ( sorry :^/). Also, sorry for the fact that I wasn't polishing carefully. Let's just call this my unintentional ruffian, yes? Yes! 


Fuzzy shot, CLEARLY duochrome!

The base color of this polish is mainly a metallic icy purple with blue fleck shimmer. But oh that shift! The polish shifts to a slightly darker purple, to a warmer pink, and finally, a little gold. Gorgeous! Formula was opaque in two thick coats and swatches show that plus one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat. I had no problems polishing this shade alone but again, did have a minor problem when trying to do a thin coat over another base color. I still think a couple drops of thinner will fix this entirely. 

Well that's all for today's mystery polish, see you around next time for some franken creations! But until then, remember to keep it classy and creative!

xo

Also, don't forget to check out Ruby White Tips on:
Etsy


Friday, February 21, 2014

Ruby White Tips - P Wagon

*Product was purchased by me at a blogger discount*
*However, all opinions are my own*

Happy Friday my fellow nail enthusiasts! I'm going to celebrate the weekend by attempting some nail art. Please note that I said ATTEMPT, I will show you later in this post what happens when I do "nail art." I go to nail art as Sochi Olympic Hotels go to functioning doors (hint, IT DOESN'T WORK). But before I get to that, let's get to today's pretty shall we?

P Wagon is the rather sassy name for this polish from the Kill Bill Collection which Ruby White Tips describes as

This is a true to the name DUO CHROME, and one that I have never seen before! It's breathtakingly stunning in person. It's not only a beautiful nude with one coat, with black under it it turns into another color completely. 

Sounds intriguing no? Let's see if it lives up to the hype!

Bottle macro

Here I am minding my own business, then ZING, gold color shift!




Swatches show, I believe, two thick coats with minimal VNL (which isn't obvious in real life). This color is predominately a white based polish with red/pink shimmer. However, when this baby shifts, oh boy! The shift photo is just a swatch photo of the polish, no additional undies. Now, let's get to this "nail art" and we can talk about how this polish performs over other colors.



So let's just get this out of the way first, STAMPING IS HARD.  I could not make those images straight to save my life. I dunno, maybe it's my eyes that are crooked? Anywho, all 4 of my fingers started off with 2 coats of Wet 'n' Wild French White Creme. Next, I taped off vertical stripes on my middle and ring finger,  painted off Cult Nails Ms. Conduct (an awesome taupe-y dark brown cream), and IMMEDIATELY pulled off the striping tape. Then, I painted all 4 nails with as thin of a coat I could of P Wagon. Finally, I stamped my pointer and ring fingers using Ms. Conduct and the Vivid Lacquer VL004 plate. Finally, I topped everything off with Glisten & Glows HK Girl Fast Dry Top Coat. Aside from the terrible stamping and unclean lines, I love the idea of this mani. I especially love this photo where you can see the polish shift! P Wagon does add a slightly nude undertone to the white polish while turning overwhelmingly red/pink over the darker base color.

Now, let's talk about formula. As a stand alone polish, it was fabulous. Smooth, thick, and buttery. However, when applied thin as a top coat (and I will be the first to tell you this could be entirely due to my polishing error), I had some problems with dragging and this prevented me from getting the thin coats I really wanted. So, I think I'm going to add a couple drops of thinner and try it out again.

Well that's all for the sassy lass that is P Wagon! I have one more polish to show you from Ruby White Tips, and this one is a mystery polish. So hold onto your seats kids! Hope you have a wonderful evening and see you next time! But until then, remember to always keep it classy and creative!

xo

Also, don't forget to check out Ruby White Tips on:
Etsy




Thursday, February 20, 2014

Ruby White Tips - Jane's Lemming

*Product was purchased by me at a blogger discount*
*However, all opinions are my own*

I'm baaaaaaaaack! That would be TWO days in a row athankyouverymuch. Now, I know that you are more than likely doing a touchdown dance at me posting two days in a row, but let's go ahead and reign it in to check out today's indie pretty! Totally kidding by the way, I don't expect you to do a touchdown dance in my honor. Yeah, kidding… sorta….

Haha, anywho, I can't wait to show you Jane's Lemming from Ruby White Tips today! The description on the Ruby White Tips' website states:

Jane's Lemming is a perfect brown with Blue Hues

Swatches show two coats (but I could have easily gotten away with one if I had polished carefully) plus one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl top coat to speed up the dry time.

You know those blue hues we were talking about? Yup, FOUND EM





I love the dusty mushroom brown color of this polish. The blue shimmer adds such a dimensional, glowy,  flare and keeps it from being just a normal run of the mill brown. Formula was smooth, buttery, and thick in a fantastic way! Swatches show no clean up and that's because this polish was so easily spread. I cannot comment on dry time due to the use of a fast dry top coat, but I do know, I had no problems with denting after everything was said and done.

Well, that's all for Jane's Lemming. If you dig neutrals, definitely check out this polish! See you around next time for the next pretty! Who knows, I may even post 3 days in a row! *gasp* But until then, remember to keep it classy and creative!

xo

Also, don't forget to check out Ruby White Tips on:
Etsy

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Ruby White Tips - Kim

*Product was purchased by me at a blogger discount*

Hello my dears! Where has the time gone? I still find it strange that the hours can seem so long but the days go by so quickly. How does that even work? I spent my weekend house and dog sitting for a family I babysit for. Since it was such a break from my normal routine, I got my blogging all mixed up and here I am! However, it did give me some time to get some swatching done, and I have one of those swatches to show you today!

The Ruby White Tips shop on Etsy describes Kim as

Kim, is a nude brown hologram polish. The rainbow shows up softly without the sun shining on it, but then when the light and sun hits it it comes to life. 

Let's see if the polish lives up to it's claims shall we?

So far I dig it, it's a nude with a 'tude! Enlarge for the holo detail

Here is a shot in the shade to show you the texture of the polish. The photo above and below are more color accurate!

I caught some of the holo! This little stumpy friend would be my mishap of a middle finger.



I love this polish! I love the understated nude color with the pink undertones. But, it really comes alive with the added micro flecks that give the polish a more textured look. A little holo never hurt anyone either! Despite the somewhat textured look, the polish was super smooth. All swatches show two medium to thick coats plus top coat. Formula was thick, creamy, and easy to spread. This will definitely be my go to palate cleanser when I am ready for a polish break. Dare I say this could potentially be a contender for a wedding polish?!? What do you think?

Well, that's all for today my dears, I will be back next time with another Ruby White Tips pretty! But until then, remember to keep it classy and creative!

xo

Also, don't forget to check out Ruby White Tips on:
* Etsy


Monday, February 10, 2014

An Elephant Never Forgets

Did everyone enjoy their weekend? Any interesting stories, good, bad, whatever? I have already started to get into wedding planning mode, so you can probably guess what I've been doing as of late! We don't even have a date set yet, lol. Hey, but you can never be too prepared right?

Moving on, for today's franken, I envisioned a polish in which two different colored microflakies kind of duked it out on the nail giving the polish an almost textured effect. Yeah… that didn't happen, but it is pretty cool anyways! I started out with 3/4 of a bottle of TKB Luster Base. I then added 2 drops of Color Club Rebel Spirit and one drop TKB Black Nail Polish Colorant to slightly color the base. Finally, I added one medium scoop of Glitter Unique Gun Metal Micro Flakies and 2 medium scoops of the Sparkling Taupe Micro Flakies.







After I was done taking my first round of photos, I felt like this polish was just begging to be mattified, so I exercised my right of no self control and gave in to the temptation. I think I like it better that way!




Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the normal finish, but it totally just WORKS with the matte! I love it. Original swatches show two thick coats of An Elephant Never Forgets plus once coat of fast dry top coat. Matte photos is that plus one coat of OPI Matte Top coat. Opacity was not problematic. The formula was thick, but I prefer my polishes that way; thick and easily spreadable. One thing I finally did realize with this polish though, no matter how hard I try, those Sparkling Taupe flakies always end up giving the overall look an almost purple tinge. So think of these flakies as a taupe with strong purple undertones.

So what do you think? Matte or no matte? 

Well that's all for today! Hopefully you had a wonderful Monday and see you back next time for more franken awesomeness! But until then, remember to keep it classy and creative!

xo

Today's Supplies Are From:
* TKB Luster Base and Black Nail Polish Colorant: TKB Trading
* Gun Metal and Sparkling Taupe Micro Flakies: Glitter Unique
* Color Club Rebel Spirit: Random set found at Ross






Friday, February 7, 2014

Burnt Leaves

It's Friday! I for one, intend to enjoy my week's conclusion with a glass of wine. Glass… bottle…. whatever; who's counting? But rather than drag you down with the stressors that were my week, how's about we just go straight into it? Eh eh eh?

I started today's polish with 2/3 of a mini bottle's worth of TKB Luster Base. I then added about 1/4 of a mini bottle's worth of Color Club Rebel Spirit (which I found from a random set at Ross). Next, I added 2 medium scoops of TKB Gold Flakies and one medium scook of TKB Mo Betta Brown Glitter. Finally, I added 2 small scoops of Glitter Unique's Sparkling Taupe Micro Flakies






Swatches show two thick coats of flake goodness plus top coat. Thanks to the darker medium brown base, the flakies were able to shine through while the sparkling taupe micro flakes helped to add an illuminating depth. Formula was very easy with minimal placing of the flakies and coverage was pretty decent. I don't reach for browns often, but I can definitely see myself reaching for this. It's not your run of the mill boring brown. What do you think?

Well, that's all for today my dears! Have a wonderful weekend! Hope to see you around soon, I just got some new supplies that I am SUPER excited to show you! But until then, remember to keep it classy and creative!

xo

Today's Supplies Are From:
* TKB Luster Base, Gold Flakies, and Mo Betta Brown Glitter: TKB Trading
* Sparkling Taupe Micro Flakies: Glitter Unique
* Colo Club Rebel Spirit: Random set found at Ross



Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Marmalade

Hello my dears! Halfway through the week so far and this week has been crazy! Anyone else? Bring on the weekend because I am ready to relax like it's going out of style. Out of style like layering scrunchy socks and overalls with one of the straps undone. Goodness gracious those were terrible… ugh.

Anywho, let's move onto the polish shall we? I decided I didn't have enough oranges, mostly because oranges TERRIFY me, so I wanted to change it up a little bit. I started off with about 3/4 of a mini bottle's worth of TKB Luster Base. I then added one small scoop of TKB EZB International Orange Powder pigment (which is a neon orange with yellow undertones) and a few drops of TKB Black Nail Polish colorant to darken up the base. Next, I added one medium scoop of Glitter Unique's Red-Gold Micro Flakies (which are actually more of a coral to gold color). Finally, I added a scoop and a half of Glitter Unique's .008 Orange Holo Hexes.






Swatches show three coats and one coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Dry Top Coat. I like how the shade of orange is more mid toned and therefore not EYEBALL SEARING. The microflakies add an almost foil like depth. I dig it. Orange still scares me and I'm still not sure it's for me. But, I dig it. The base is nice and jelly like but that does mean that more you have to watch for VNL. Formula was easy and there was no dragging or balding!

Well that's all for today my loves! See you back next time for more franken adventures! But until then, remember to keep it classy and creative!

xo

Today's Supplies Are From:
* Luster Base, Black Nail Polish Colorant, and TKB International Orange: TKB Trading
* .008 Orange Holo Hexes and Red-Gold Micro Flakies: Glitter Unique



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