#31DC2013 Day 5: Blue Nails

I told you I'd catch up! Challenge #5 is Blue Nails - and I was worried about staining so I decided to go with a lighter blue.

I used a base coat of Seche Natural for a matte finish, 2 coats of China Glaze Sci-Fly By which is from the Hologlam collection and then attempted The Nailasaurus waterfall manicure using ORLY Instant Artist in Crisp White, Jet Black and True Blue.

I don't think I totally nailed it, but I'm excited about how simple this was! The stripers on the ORLY Instant Artist are the perfect size for small lines like this - although I think I need to make my lines closer in size and maybe just make more lines in general.  I had tried a few weeks ago and it wasn't really a win.

But hey, it's a learning experience and I'm learning!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

#31DC2013 Day 4: Green Nails

Day 4 means green nails - one of my least favorite of the polish colors. I started with a base of Cult Nails Get It On followed by 2 coats of Zoya Meg, a shimmery apple green polish. Next I added dots using Ruby Wing Birdie and outlined them with ORLY Instant Artist striper in Jet Black. I did not add a top coat but voila - we have instant cheetah print... in wild colors.

Simple - not overly complicated! The toughest part was outlining the dots as my hand isn't as steady as I'd like but I think it went over okay!

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Ciaté Corrupted Neon & Suncatcher

Ciaté had fallen off my radar after they were picked up at Sephora but I'm back on the ball and wanted to share 2 new collections with you. You may have seen them already at your local Sephora.

The first is Corrupted Neon.

This kit contains a Ciaté Matte Neon Paint Pot, Ciaté Loose Neon Glitter and the Ciaté Mini Corrupted UV Top Coat and come in 4 different kits
-Club Tropicana (orange colors)
-Foam Party (blue colors)
-Mega Foam (yellow colors)
-Shout Out (pink colors)

The Ciaté Corrupted Neon Manicure set is available for $25.

The second collection is the Suncatcher Summer Collection that also has an "Afterglow Topcoat" which transforms your manicure into an after-dark neon glow.

The Ciaté Suncatcher Collection paint pots are $15 each.

#HePicksMyPolish Julep Diane

Nothing To Disclose

Not too long ago, there was a popular video tag on YouTube of "Boyfriend Does My Makeup" where the lovely ladies handed over control to the guy in their life. Most were pretty disastrous but funny to watch no matter what.

Recently, on Facebook, the blogger Sparkle Queen allowed her fiance to pick her polish and long story short, #HePicksMyPolish was born. Much like the #31DC2013 Challenge, there aren't any REAL rules on this - just have fun!  You can read more about the #HePicksMyPolish tag here and check out this graphic from Sparkle Queen. (Click for full size.)

So when I told my husband that I needed him to pick a polish for me, he got way too excited to run to my stash. What I didn't realize was that he was picking "his favorite color" (this is news to me) which is also probably my least favorite color I own... dark forest green.

In the sake of challenges, I give you Julep Diane.  I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, 3 thin coats of polish and a top of Cult Nails Wicked Fast. This polish is super dark so don't be too upset if all you can see is black - there is green under there, promise.

See - green. Definitely one of my least favorite colors I own. I got this as a part of the November 2011 "Polish Lover Option" Julep Maven box.

I'd like to let him pick more often but I think I may have to get my son to pick (he's 6) for some more fun in my posts.

Julep is available on their website for $14 a bottle.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Be apart of #HePicksMyPolish

China Glaze Liquid Crystal

Press Sample

In July (don't judge) I decided to close my eyes and randomly grab a bottle of polish to swatch. I came up with China Glaze Liquid Crystal from the 2012 Prismatic Chroma collection. When I first heard about these, i was really excited. The official release stated "bright blue holographic with purple tint dusted with silver, gold, green, pink and orange.  Hello.

I started with a base of Cult Nails Get It On, 2 coats of polish and a top coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast. I know others have found this polish to be gloopy or thick but mine applied well without any real issues. It did eat top coat though, so you may want to add a second layer.

In full sun, this looks more like turquoise polish with glitters, although in the bottle, you can see hints of purple around the edges.

In the shade, the purple starts to peek out and you can see that the "dusted" parts are actually glitters. This combo of glitters was pretty popular last year and I've seen it in a few polishes this year as well.

Indoors with indirect light you start to see the color shift but sadly, no holographic properties here.

And just as I was about to call it a day, I was able to get full on purple tint from this little fiend. Thanks Liquid Crystal!

China Glaze [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.