American Apparel: Mouse

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Sorry about the awkward position of the bottle in the sunlight photo. A bee flew pass my ear and it startled me. :( (I took these pictures months ago when there wasn't snow).

This colour is interesting...I thought this colour would make my hands look dead, but it actually looks cute in an elegant sort of way. It's nice and subtle.

I definitely recommend using top coat with this polish because it is a bit on the streaky side. Nothing top coat can’t fix though!

Nothing out of the ordinary as for the application and drying time goes. The brush is a tad flimsy but it’s still pretty decent. I’m wearing 2 coats and top coat in these pictures.

Canadian Retail Price: $7.50 each or 3 for $18

You can purchase this in-store or go to the American Apparel website and buy here


-m

piCture pOlish: Sky

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Hello girlies!

Today I have an Australian nail polish brand called piCture pOlish. It's always so exciting for me to discover new-to-me brands. I must give it to these girls, the bottle design is so cute, I love how each label is unique.

The first color I have today is Sky. I've been searching far and wide for a pastel blue. I think it started with Illamasqua's Caress, then $OPI Havana Dreams (which I missed out on), and Chanel's newest color, Riva. I'm just not in a $30 dollar per polish mood.

I'm pretty happy with this color, it's a nice starchy pastel blue. It's a nice color for spring. I'm wearing 3 coats in these pictures. The color on this was a wee bit streaky, probably because of it's pastel nature. But other than that the color was quite opaque with normal drying time. I also found the brush on this one a little bit filmsy, it's not impossible to work with but you do have to be careful that you're not picking up too much polish; just work slowly and it's fine.


Can anyone take a guess on which 3 colors I picked and which 3 Milan picked? haha!

*This was sent for review
-vee

Bow-tie Mani

Bow-tie Mani Indoors:



Bow-tie Mani Hand with Flash:


Here's a holiday mani vee did for me! I think it's so adorable! :3 It didn't take too long either.

I used Piggy Polish's Pink-ing of You on top of one coat of red polish...the name of the nail polish colour reminds me of Katy Perry's Thinking of You haha. The colour would probably be best layered since it is quite sheer. Also, the smell of it reminds me of white-out...or industrial strength glue or something. I don't know, but it wasn't pleasant.

Bow-tie Ring Finger with Flash:


Bow-tie Ring Finger Only:


Just thought I would add this for those you want something a little bit more simple. :) I'm quite happy with both manis, hehe.

Seasons Greetings everyone! :D

-m

Hearts and Jewels

Indoor:


Thumb:

Hello! Today I have some simple nail art to show you. I used a pale pastel blue from piCture pOlish (Review coming soon). On each nail I added 3 little white hearts at the base of my nails, the hearts I used are from the blogger sample package from Viva la Nails. In this package they had white and black heart chains, so I just cut them up to separate them for each nail. (I added the picture below - it was a bit difficult to capture on my camera)

Then for the ring finger I added a small flat back pearl, and two white jewels. As for the thumb I decided to randomly add 5 different jewels, I stuck with white jewels but added 1-2 small colored gems just to make it cuter.

I'm just a little disappointed you can't see the hearts better, I should have saved them for a darker base color. But overall it's a cute subtle design and very easy to do! Just remember to seal everything in with top coat!

Hope you girls like it!



Note: Last night I was organizing the labels on our blog and now for your convenience you can view all nail art by difficulty level from simple, intermediate, and challenge. :) lol

-vee

Festive Holiday Nails

Hello everyone! Today my sister and I will be reviewing one of the items sent to us by Jessica from Born Pretty. Born pretty offers a wide range of nail art products and they are one of the top rated sellers on ebay.

The first item we have today is the Christmas decals!

Snowman and House:


Santa:


vee: For my base I decided to paint my index, middle and pinky with China Glaze’s High Hopes, and as for my thumb and ring I applied a few layers of ChG’s White on White. I feel like the white base complimented the decals really well.

I like how my design came out, the Santa is so cute and fat. Hehe.

***

Wreath and Stars:


Penguin and Tree:


Wreath and Stars Hand:


m: I used one coat of A Beautiful Life's Noir and one coat of Sally Hansen's Midnight in NY. Since the water decals are slightly transparent, it's probably best to use these nail decals over light coloured nail polishes to keep the colours as pure as possible.

These water decals were pretty easy to use. I just removed the plastic covering, threw the design in a bowl of water to soak for a few seconds, peeled the design off, and applied the design onto my nails using tweezers. I didn't apply one of them perfectly, but the wrinkle isn't too noticable. So if you want to create a festive Christmas manicure within seconds, this is a good option! :D

-Milan and VanailyY

Essie: Lovie Dovie & Konad M20

Indoor:

This is actually from a few weeks/months ago.

One of my favorite pinks. It's the perfect bubble gum pink. I must of worn this color for the third time now. Which says a lot, since I have a lot of colors that are only worn once, swatched, or never touched. I used 3 coats in these pictures.

In this "nail art" I used the Konad image plate #M20. I mainly picked this plate for this flower/snowflake. I think it's so lovely and delicate. Oh I should note that OC nail art is having a promotion going on, where everything is 30% off. Konad usually does not allow discounting, but they have founded a loop around it by selling gift certificates at 30% off, so you can use it towards your purchase. You can check that out here if you're interested.

-vee

Essie:Van D'go

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This is a cute color, but it’s a streaky nightmare. Well the first time I wore it was a streaky goopey nightmare. Of course I threw in a couple drops of thinner, it left me no choice!

First time I wore this a year ago; I had such a bubble feast! On top of that I had major sheet marks the next day. All I was left with was feelings of remorse, sorrow and resentment. A year later, I guess it’s not too bad, after a couple drops of thinner. I like the color, but it’s still streaky. I went with 3 coats. Ehhh... I guess no one is staring at my nails that hard to notice... *roll eyes* lol
-vee

OCC: Blackboard

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It really does look like the color of a blackboard! Well the green "black"boards. lol. I'm not sure if chalky black would have the same affect, haha.

But look how shiny this polish is!! Do you see that sunlight pic?! It's as if I added special effects with the stars. hahaha. When I told my sister about it, she was thinking it'll look like some sort of jelly, and I send her over the picture and she was like "holy sh-- thats so shiny."

I went with 2 coats in these pictures. So far I've find OCC polishes very opaque, and you get a good coverage. The only thing I'd prefer is that if the brushes were a bit stiffer. It's a little odd to work with since the brush is softer than what I usually deal with. Nothing impossible, just work slow, and make sure you're not carrying too much excess on the bristols and you'll be fine and dandy. haha.

*These were sent for review

-vee

China Glaze: Flip Flop Fantasy

Direct Sunlight:

I actually filed down my nails a lot more after applying this color. Haha, but it looks like I only have a picture of it at the original length.

This is a really cute neon color. One of my favourite neons, I’d say it places 3rd after Essie’s Knock-out Pout, and Essie’s Pink Parka. I had an extremely difficult time trying to capture a picture of this color, probably because it was radio-active. I would describe this neon as a milky pink color with the touch of yellow giving it this orange-y look.

As every other neon, it dries extremely quickly. So I’d say be a little patient and just work in thin coats. Then top it off with top coat, it’s a must.
-vee

Childhood Cartoons

Dragon Ball Z:

So I'm taking a break before I head off to school to meet up with my study group. Finance is just a bundle of fun, I just love spending my friday nights and weekends studying for it... lol.

Anyways, so theres this thing going on facebook right now where you: "Change your facebook profile to a cartoon from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday, Dec 6, there should be no human faces on Facebook, but an invasion of memories. This is in support for the movement NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN"

Of course I decided to join in the fun, because I love DBZ. Especially Goku, and Vegeta is a close second. Just wondering if any of girls changed your profile pictures, and what did you change it to?

LOL, I've been looking at all my friend's profiles and it just makes me feel like a kid a again! Oh, good times.

-vee

Essie: Forget Me Nots

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Indoor:

I did a review on this a while ago if I'm not mistaken. I would describe this as a blue-toned pink. Very pretty, and girly. (3 coats here).

Just to let you girlies know Milan and I are going into finals in the next few weeks. We've prepared some swatches/reviews so that we'll have the occasional post until now and end of finals. I'll be finished on the 13th, and Milan will be done the week after. Once I get some free time on my hands (no pun intended), and like I've mentioned, I will be posting up some nail art tutorials/ideas. :D

Please, bare with us! Next 2 weeks are going to be torture, all work no play, no sleep, maybe eat. haha.

-vee

SwirlyDos

Today I have Swirlydo’s SwirliDos Neutural-Brown colored hair ties. I got these sent for review and I have to admit the first time I saw these I was thinking "what on earth is this? Is this made of telephone cord???" But I was open-minded and gave it a try as soon as I received it on the mail.

I must say, these hair ties works wonders! How, might you ask? Oh, let me tell you. First of all these things holds firmly without all the pressure and it keeps in place longer than a regular hair tie. Now I usually use the Ouchless hair ties, you know those black ones without the metal piece?

I usually tie my hair up only when I’m at home. Mainly because I like my hair better down, plus when I’m at home I want my hair out of my face. Another reason why I don’t tie it when I’m out is because a regular hair tie leaves that pony line behind. And guess what; because of the nature of these ties... it doesn’t leave that harsh bend in your hair when you take the tie out. Even says so on the package! Hahahaha.

When I do tie my hair up, it’s always up in a bun. I don’t know why, I just prefer it like that. The key to getting these ties firmly into your hair is by making the first round tight, and just wrap the 2nd round loosely. I doubt you can triple tie if you’re doing a bun.

And lastly, these are great for exam time! Yea, because I’m not sure if you girls are like me but when it gets down the business I have my pens, pencils, calculators, erasers, student id, and alarm clock ready to go. Yes, I said calculators... I usually carry 3 of them on me: 1 scientific, 1 financial, 1 graphing (which does all the functions that the scientific and financial calculator does) LOL! But hey, what if something goes wrong with one of my calculators!... Sorry I got distracted, I was actually going to say – when it comes down to writing an exam, I usually like to tie my hair up. Last thing I need is to move my hair out of my face.

You can purchase these online at facial work’s website for$9.99 for a package of 8 hair ties, right now they are on sale for $6.99, although I’m not too sure how long the sale is running for. It’s a pretty good price considering those Ouchless hair ties are not much cheaper.



*These were sent for review

-vee