L.A. Colors--Test

Hey everybody!

Oh my gosh, so much to catch y'all up on! To start, a sincere apology, a mixture of phone issues and some other things have kept me away. Now, I'm back, new phone with a better camera (yay!), ready to get back at it! :)

So jumping right into it, I'm sure you have seen the "Guaranteed to last" or "Will last up to..." claims that these companies make to try and sell their product to anyone they think might fall for it. Well I found one that I decided to put to the test... Check it out!

L.A. Colors has a line that claims to 'last up to 10 days', well like most skeptics, I didn't believe a word of it! So they were a decent price, I got them from Walmart at about $2 a piece. They said it only works with their matching 10-day top coat so I got the top coat too.

The color is a blue green shimmer polish with a slight glittery undertone. After reading the instructions (simply because I was curious) I saw that it states not to use a base coat (or so it seemed). So in an effort to make this test as accurate as possible, I only didn't use it on my pinkie finger in case the color stained. Here is what is looked like when I started:

Beautiful color! Decent coverage as well, 2 coats to full opacity. My pinkie finger is the only one without a base coat and I used their 10 day top coat to finish it off. I treated this manicure the same way I do the other ones, I might have been even harder on it just to test its limits. Here is the end results after a full 11 days of wear: 

As you can see, this lasted pretty well, only minor wear around the edges! Pretty impressive actually because I am not nice to my nail polish. -lol-

Well I hope you enjoyed this post guys. Again, I am so sorry for the long absence!

Thanks for following my blog and I will catch y'all next time!

-Randi

Haunting Graveyard Mani

Hey everybody! 

It's officially one of my favorite months of the year! Mainly because it leads to one of my favorite holidays of the year, Halloween! In honor of this awesome holiday I will doing Halloween themed manicures that you could rock no matter what costume you are wearing. 

We are starting this awesome month off with one of my favorite haunted places, graveyards! Here is the finished product:

Here is what you will need to complete this awesome look:

• Nail Polish: Light purple, Pink, White and Black. 
• Tools: Sponge, Small brush, Acetone and Liquid latex (optional)

You will need a white base to start, I used Sally Hansen's - Get Mod. While you're letting that dry, if you have liquid latex, paint this around nails and cuticle area. You could also use tape to accomplish a similar end result. 

Your next step involves the light purple and pink polishes as well as the sponge.  You will be creating a sponge gradient for the background of your graveyard. Have the purple closest to your cuticle for a 'sunset' type look on all of your nails. See below for an example of this:

After this dries you will want to make hills on your nails using your black nail polish. Feel free to make them as different and unique as you want, they will just end up looking more natural. Here is shot of mine after I added my hills to them:

After that use the black nail polish, I used China Glaze- Liquid Leather, to create your tombstones. For normal tombstones start with a light touch pushing slightly as you go down your nail. For crosses, you will need a small thin brush and the same black nail polish and carefully paint the crosses at whatever heights you would like. 

Put on a glossy top coat and you're done! However I'm sure it would great with a matte finish as well

As usual thanks for reading!

Until next time,

-Randi

Nail Care and My Go-Tos

Hey everybody!

  Oh my gosh, it has been SO hectic the past month but I am hoping to get back to posting regularly again.

  So I thought for my first post in a while I would let y'all in on what I like to do to keep my nails healthy and strong. Let's get started! :)

  So my first and probably best tip I can give y'all is getting a good nail/cuticle oil. I use Simply Pure by Bliss Kiss. I was introduced to this product by Simply Nailogical and it has all but saved my nails. Before I started using this product, my nails would crack and split very easily and I constantly had hang nails (Ouch!!). After only a week of using this nail oil my nails were stronger and I had gotten them to a length that I could have never imagined before. I was in love! On top of the good oil I also like to use a lotion that is labeled as 'hand and nail care', this type of lotion will typically have more vitamins in it that are good for keeping your hands and nails properly moisturized. I use Mane&Tail's Hoofmaker, it smells great and works really well, especially if you have dry hands like I do.

 

*Please excuse the old polish lol*



My second big tip that I have for you, as weird as this is going to sound, is to avoid prolonged exposure to water whenever you can. Soaking your nails weakens them and makes them more prone to breakage or tearing. This is easier than you might think, the only real time that this will become a concern is when you are washing dishes or cleaning.. all you need to do is start wearing the latex (or non-latex) cleaning gloves. Like these here.

This is my favorite tip because it is by far the most fun. Never Be Nude... I'm not talking clothes, I'm talking nail polish. The polish gives your nails a sort of shield from the outside world, making it just that much harder for them to break. This doesn't make them break proof but it does help them quite a bit. So rock those colors and show off those designs!

My last tip that I have for you is.. don't do dangerous things with your nails! Need to open a coke can? Grab that spoon. Got a sticker-y situation? Soak it in hot water and go after it with alcohol (don't forget your gloves!). Be careful and mindful of what you are doing with your nails and they will last longer.

That about wraps this up. Just remember, wear your gloves, never go nude and be mindful of what you are putting your nails through. Add those in with a bit of time and you will have long strong nails before you know it!

Thanks!

Until next time!

-Randi











Trust Fund Beauty- Champagne Socialite *Review Request*

Hey Socialites!

Oh you aren't socialites? Well you will be after trying this beautiful shade from Trust Fund Beauty. It's called Champagne Socialite and it is a really nice pale pink shimmer. Check it out!

It's a wonderful formula, goes on smooth and covers in an easy 2 coats! The picture is a typical coverage, 2 coats and a top coat. It lasted about 10 days with little chipping or wear. 

Well I have to say I am very impressed with this shade from Trust Fund Beauty. It will be a regular wear for me I think. I would say this is definitely a shade you should consider for your collection. 

Until next time!

-Randi

Trust Fund Beauty - I Can't Even *Review Request*

Hey again everybody!

I am here today doing a review on Trust Fund Beauty's- I Can't Even. It is a basic black creme polish and took a standard 2-3 colors for full coverage. 

In my opinion though, wow check out that shine! Looks great and wears well, with 3 coats and a top coat. It lasted a full 5 days with nearly no chipping.

I would definitely recommend adding this to your collection! Go check out Trust Fund Beauty's website for a look at their other colors!

Until next time!

-Randi

Trust Fund Beauty- Boy Tears *Review Request*

Hey everybody!

I have another review for you today! Trust Fund Beauty has reached out to me to review a few of their polishes. This is the second one of  four colors and my personal favorite. It has holographic and silver glitters suspended in a clear jelly base. I have a few ways to show you this beautiful polish so lets get to it!

First way I have it is as a single layer coverage. It isn't very dense, but I think TFB meant Boy Tears to be more of a holographic top coat than a full coverage polish.

The second and third way I have it displayed for you is set up in one manicure. On the ring finger and thumb I sponged the polish on to increase the opacity. The others I put one coat of Boy Tears on top of TFB's pure black polish, that I will be reviewing in the next post.

Overall, I like this polish! Its a really pretty scatter holo, even with the silver glitters mixed it. I actually think the silver glitters that were added in gave the polish a nice dimension.

What did you think of this polish? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time!

- Randi

Trust Fund Beauty - Blow *Requested Review*

So psyched everybody! It's time for my first blogger review! The next several posts I do will be requested review posts for the indie company Trust Fund Beauty. Follow the link to check out their shop. Also, I must say... 17mL is a lot of polish especially with it's more popular competitors only being 10-14mL.

 

The first coat is a little sheer but builds up nicely in three coats. I have other whites in my collection that are a bit more opaque, but I definitely have ideas for a "lighter" white. I think it would be very useful for nail art or to even put an interesting twist on a darker color.





So there you have it folks. That was Trust Fund Beauty's Blow; a semi-sheer creme white polish. I will check in again at the end of the week with another review request from TFB!

Until next time!

-Randi

Revlon- Ocean

Okay, I don't usually get excited by Revlon but this one surprised me.. Check out the swatch first and I'll get into it:

So... Here is what excited me.. It's a one coater! Just a side bonus, I didn't drop the brush like I usually do with these cylinder-type lids! I really need to invest in one of those rubber mat things to put under my nail desk or my carpet will suffer the consequences. I've been lucky so far, it's just a matter of time. One of these days, I will do a "What does my set-up look like" post. You know, once it doesn't look like a bomb went off on it.

But anyways, I did a second coat simply because it felt weird not to and topped it with my usual top coat. I forgot to get a shot of it, but it looks great in matte too! This color is gorgeous, it has a very slight blue-ish multichrome tint to it at a certain angle.

Definitely a recommended color to have in your collection!

Until next time! <3

Randi

Make-Up Monday! Essie- Boxer Shorts

Hello everybody!!

Sorry I missed my last posting day! So I'm doing a 'Make-Up Monday' in the form of a swatch.

Now, after I posted this to my Schnupps app. I was told by one of my followers that it is a rare and highly sought after color by Essie collectors. It was released in a 2012 gym inspired line along with 'Yogaga', 'Gym Dandy', Marathin', 'Spinning Again', and 'Pilates Hottie.' Apparently this collection wasn't part of Essie's permanent line so now it's only available through Ebay. I got it in 2012 and apparently never used it until now lol. 

It is a beautiful, leaning on the purple side of periwinkle type color with full opacity in 2 coats. Unfortunately it didn't last long on me because shortly after it dried I started cleaning the house and working in the yard. (Oops!)

Overall, wonderful colorful, good brand and great coverage. I would definitely recommend adding this to your collection if you can find it. I also have Yogaga so I will probably do a swatch of that one as well :)

Hope to see you on my next post!

-Randi



#Sharingfortheloveofaneli - Avenged Sevenfold Recreation

Hello everyone!


For those who don't know, the lovely and talented Ane Li (@ane_li) passed away on July 11th. Those of us who were inspired by her art have decided to recreate some of our favorite designs that she had made over the years under the hashtag #sharingfortheloveofaneli. I chose to recreate her Avenged Sevenfold tribute. Check out the rest of the post for her original design and some more information..




Here is my recreation of her design:

Here is her original:

For my recreation I used Sally Hansen's Get Mod for the white background and black acrylic for the design. I followed Ane Li's video tutorial for this, you can find it here on Instagram. Her picture taking skills are definitely something for me to envy though! I think what the nail community is doing for Ane Li is wonderful and I am so happy to have been so well accepted into such a loving community.

I am so happy to have honored Ane Li through this recreation. I wish her friends and family all the best in this difficult time. You can go through all of her designs here on her Instagram page.

Until next time- 

<3 Randi

 

Pokemon GO Mani!

In honor of the latest craze sweeping the world today. I have for y'all a Pokemon GO themed manicure that has a bit of dotting, some vinyls, and some freehand work. This will be the final look:

The list of things you will need:

1. Polish- White, Light Green, Yellow, Blue, Red, Pink-ish and Tan
2. Acrylics- Light Blue, Light Green, Black
3. Tools- Large dotting tool, short paintbrush, toothpick, straight vinyls

So to start, clean your nails and put on your favorite base coat. Then paint your nails with the following colors: Thumb- White; Pointer- Lgt Green; Middle- White; Ring- Lgt Blue; Pinky- Tan. Then cover all of them with a quick dry top coat.



Now, let's start on the thumb first. This one is going to be our Pokeball. Make absolutely sure that your top coat is completely dry since we are going to use vinyls. Put your straight vinyl across the white as close to the middle as you can. After securing the vinyl, paint the top half of your nail red. Be sure to remove the vinyl as soon as possible so it doesn't start to dry and get stringy. Get your paintbrush and black acrylic and paint a line to separate the red and white. Using your large dotting tool, create a big circle in the middle of the line. Then get your white polish and put a white dot in the center of the black dot using your dotting tool. Here is a final picture:

Pointer finger next! This one I made into an activated Pokestop, where pokemon trainers get all their supplies. This one is a little difficult to explain but I will try. All you will need is your light blue acrylic, paintbrush and the toothpick. Make sure your original top coat is completely dry. Start with a semi-large circle in the center of your nail. Then paint a complete circle around it with space in-between. Now as long as your original top coat is completely dry you can do this... Take your toothpick and lightly scratch away the acrylic on either side to make two half circles. Your end result should look something like this:

Now your middle finger. This one I used the colors of the teams on the game for inspiration. Red for Valor, Blue for Mystic and Yellow for Instinct. The white we put on originally will make the colors pop more than if we hadn't used it. Again make sure your top coat is completely dry before you use the vinyls. Get two straight vinyls and separate your nail length-wise in 3 sections. Now you can do whatever order you would like to here for the colors. For instance, put your team in the middle or as an alternative you can also not do the vinyls and just have red, yellow or blue for your team. I did all three just for solidarity. :) Here is that final look:

For your ring finger you will need: Large dotting tool, light green acrylic, and a pink-ish polish. The design for this finger is the Razz Berry, used in the game to help tame the pokemon to make them easier to catch. So for this design you kind of build an upside down pyramid starting with 4 large dots then 3, 2 and 1. I used the light green acrylic to make 2 little leaves at the top. And that's it for this one, here's roughly what you should have:

Finally the pinky! This design is going for the eggs that you hatch in the game. Using the light green acrylic and your paintbrush, make random splotches in whatever pattern you would like. This one is by far the easiest one in this design set. Here is what mine ended up looking like:

Once you are done and you are happy with how they look. Make sure they are all completely dry and put on a quick dry glossy top coat. Wait for about 20-30 minutes then have fun & go "Catch 'em All!" (Just please stay aware of your surroundings)


Well, that sums up this nail art set. What did y'all think? I had a lot of fun doing this design! Send me a shot if you try it! Here is another shot of the completed look:

See y'all in a couple of days for the Sunday Swatch-Off!


Thanks for reading!



 

-Randi

Sunday Swatch-Off!: All In VS Teal On Fire

Okay so I am trying something different that I think people may like so... Here it goes!

My main idea with this concept is to get two similar polishes from two different brands and do a face-off. A head to head comparison for a battle of the best! So I thought I would start off with an easy one for my first attempt. We have two multi-chrome polishes that both have a blue-to-purple shift in the polish.

Our first contestant is Revlon's All In:

 

Our second contestant is Covergirl's Teal On Fire:

   

The first game is the Application Games. Here I am comparing the brushes and how they applied. The brush for Covergirl (Right) is kind of short. For me personally it's a little hard to control because of the length. However, the square shape of the lid helps keep klutzy people such as myself from dropping the brush (I have a stain on my carpet still to this day). This one applied pretty smooth with no troubles. Now the Revlon brush is wider, which I like. I have a wider nail bed and it helps the coverage go a bit faster. It applied alright had some odd points that are a little hard to explain. This one has the typical cylindrical shape to the lid which means I dropped it... Given the pros and cons in this round I will have to issue a tie..

     

The second game is the Opacity Game. The one on the left is the Revlon All In and as you can see it's... All Out. You can clearly see the tips of my nail through the single coat. However, on the right is Covergirl's Teal On Fire, not too bad. It has a few spots that are thin, but overall Covergirl wins the opacity games. Next Game!!

       

The final game is the Layer Games. How many coats to reach full opacity??? Well, to be honest it's kind of hard to get pictures of this but I will try my best to give you the swatch-off commentary... I thought Revlon would be completely opaque after 2 coats but I was horribly wrong. Unfortunately it took not 3... but 4 coats to be completely covered. Now, Covergirl covered me up completely in 2 coats. Which I was expecting since it was already pretty well covered in the single coat competition. So, sorry Revlon, Covergirl wins the Layer Games!

The final score in this session of Sunday Swatch-Off is... *insert drum roll here*

Covergirl's Teal On Fire:  3

Revlon's All In:  1

Congratulations Covergirl's Teal On Fire! 

 

Did you like this? Hope everyone enjoyed it! If you would like to see this again let me know in the comments or sent me an email! I will also consider any suggestions on changes I should try for this series. 

Thanks for reading!

-Randi

P.S....

Check out this shift!!

Christmas in July Mani Collab with 'A Certain Becca Nails'

  So my brother texts me and says "I have a challenge for you... a Christmas in July manicure." Being who I am I just had to accept this challenge. I mentioned it to the wonderful Becca with A Certain Becca Nails  and she jumped on my 'oh-so-tiny' bandwagon and is coming along for the ride. So now I'm draggin' you along too! Hope you enjoy!

For those of you that live on the edge and just want to try it with no instructions, here is the finished manicure:

For the rest of you, let's get this design on your nails! Start out with a base coat on all of your nails and make sure this layer is completely dry before the next step. (I didn't get a picture of that but that part is pretty easy lol) Here is a list of things you will need for this manicure:

- A red polish

- A green polish

- A white polish

- A large dotting tool

- A long nail art brush

- A toothpick or a small dotting tool

-French tip vinyls

-Acrylic paints in red, green, orange, brown, gold and black.

Okay for your first step put the vinyls on your nails backwards like you see in the picture on the left. Then use your white and create your snowy hills. You should end up with something like the picture on the right.

After that, put more vinyls on your nails the normal way (like you see on my pinkie finger) and alternate the red and green polish as you see below.

Now we get to the fun part! Get the large dotting tool and create to different sized circles on your thumb stacked on top of each other. Kinda resembles a certain frozen Christmas friend, doesn't it? ;) With the acrylic paints and the long thin paint brush add your details to your snowman. I gave mine a little red scarf and a carrot nose, but be as creative as you want!

 

On my ring finger I decided to do a christmas tree. All I did for the tree was paint on 3 stacked triangles and filled them in. I topped it with a gold star and a bit of white acrylic for snow (Feel free to use some additional colors to put in ornaments too!). On the rest of my fingers I just did random snowflakes.

Cover everything with a thick top coat and allow to dry for about 20 minutes. I usually just watch a 30 min show on Netflix to dry my nails :)

I had so much fun doing these Christmas in July Collaboration nails with Becca from A Certain Becca Nails. What do y'all think? Will this be filed away for your list of Christmas manicures?

Stay tuned in! Subscribe to my blog to get notified about new posts.  

Thanks everybody!

-Randi