Quick Nail Art & a Short Family Story

Sometimes, like me lately, you just don't have time to sit down and do the nail art you really want to. An easy way to get a noticeable result is to use different types of polish.

For this mani I used Julep Paula as a base. If you're a purple/blurple lover, you'll love this. It's probably one of my all-time faves. It is SO gorgeous! For the tips, I used Sinful Colors Blue Persuasion. It's very similar in color, but it's textured. Since I did the tips freehand, they were far from perfect. So, I added a stripe of silver. I was hoping it would hide my messy lines, but alas, I need more practice with my striping brush too. Hahaha! I used Sally Hansen Color Foil in Sterling Silver for the stripe.

Julep Paula & Sinful Colors Blue Persuasian

 

Added a Stripe of Silver

Sorry, I know the pics suck, but I was originally supposed to pick up my half-brother from the airport that morning. As a matter of fact, the 2nd pic was taken while sitting at a Starbucks waiting. It was my first time meeting my half-brother and the first time he & my dad have seen each other in 37 years! It was such a happy week for our family. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and have a blessed new year!                                                                                               xoxo ~Tabi

Bonus: Family Pic! (Blocked out the kids' faces for privacy/safety.)

New Year's Day

JulieG Cruise Collection Wrap-Up

So, since I haven't shown nail art with each color, here's a swatch wrap-up post. All polishes are 2 coats with top coat. Gorgeous shades that can wear right into summer. The stand-out, to me is probably Miami Beach. I don't know how to describe it. It's color ranges from coral to watermelon depending on the light. But not like some of the light corals that are out there. Dark, rich coral. Absolutely eye-catching and not for the anyone afraid of a nice pop of color.

JulieG Rio De Janiero

JulieG Santorini

JulieG Tahiti

JulieG Miami Beach

JulieG Old San Juan

JulieG Canary Islands

If you've gotten this collection I'm sure you're enjoying the fun, bright colors. I sure am. So, that's all for today. I'll be back soon with a new collection. Til then... xoxo ~ Tabi

JulieG Santorini Plus Nail Art

Hiya! Today is JulieG Santorini from the Cruise Collection. I love periwinkle colors so much, and this one doesn't disappoint in the least. There is a very faint shimmer that you can't really see on the nail, but you can catch it in the bottle. One thing I have to say about these polishes is they are super shiny even without topcoat. This one wasn't even thick like the others. Actually, it seems the 3 in this box were fine. Must have been a fluke, because this one is the quality I'm used to. Ok, on to the pics!

JulieG - Santorini

I decided to try a little dry-brush nail art. It was my first attempt and is obviously not that great, but I thought the idea was cute. It was a little busy, though. So, I thought well how about with a solid accent nail? Or AS and accent nail? And there you have it. Hehe.

Thanks for reading! I hope you're all having a great week. xoxo ~Tabi

NotD: JulieG Rio De Janiero

Second up in the JulieG/Jesse's Girl Cruise Collection is Rio De Janiero. This is a beautiful orchid/fuchsia color. All the polishes in this collection are a perfect grab of the Pantone Spring picks.

JulieG - Rio De Janiero

JulieG - Rio De Janiero & Maybelline - Beaming Blue

Isn't the color just stunning in the sun? With the bright blue and glitter it feels like something from the 80s... or perhaps Carnaval? Hehe. The Maybelline Beaming Blue is OVERLOADED with glitter. Like, to the point that I don't really like using it. The colors in the collection were pretty and I got 3 of them, but they're really only useable over a base color. On their own, it's a clumpy mess.

So, what do you think so far? Have you gotten the JulieG Cruise collection? Do you think you will? There's more to come, so stay tuned! ^_^  Later, lovlies!     XOXO ~ Tabi

NotD: JulieG Tahiti Swatch & Simple Nail Art

Well hello there! I know, I know. I said in the last post that I was back, but I'm for real this time. I think. Haha. So let's just jump right in, shall we? I ordered the JulieG/Jesse's Girl Cruise Collection from Groupon. While I love the colors, I think I got a faulty batch. It's a little thick so I can't use thin coats. What I had to do was be generous and remove the excess otherwise it wouldn't apply smoothly. I have other JulieG polishes and have never had this problem. So, I don't know if it's their fault or perhaps Groupon's. Either way, I still absolutely adore the colors. Especially this first one I'm showing you.

JulieG Nails - Tahiti

JulieG Nails - Tahiti

JulieG Nails - Tahiti & Sinful Colors - Blue Persuasion

JulieG Tahiti is not only a gorgeous springy/minty green, it also has a hint of glass fleck shimmer. There are so many shades of spring/mint green out there and most of them are cream. So, the shimmer really makes this polish. I tried to show it in a few different lights and then decided to do some simple nail art too. I used Sinful Colors Blue Persuasion for a simple tape mani. It's probably one of my favorite textured polishes. I just LOVE blue-violet colors.

So, that's all for now. I'm just getting back in the swing of things, so hopefully I'll be posting more regularly soon. Thanks to all of you lovelies who have stuck with me.     XOXO ~ Tabi

Hidden Gems - Swatch & Review

Wow. Do you ever feel like you really got your life together? I can't believe I'm actually posting again so soon!  I mean, I've just got so much going on lately it's kind of a miracle. But I know it won't last long. Something, somewhere, will fall by the wayside as I get back into nail blogging. I hope not, but you guys probably know what I'm talking about. Something's gotta give, right? Haha!

So, today I have L'Oreal Hidden Gems. This is another I picked up over Thanksgiving. It is SO gorgeous in the bottle (which of course my thoughtless self didn't take a picture of. OOPS!), that I couldn't pass it up. A textured duo-chrome?! I had a feeling it wasn't going to show up as strong on the nail, but it was still such a pretty color. You can click on the images for a closer view.

L'Oreal Hidden Gems

Hidden Gems textured nail polish

L'Oreal textured nail polish

2 Nails with Topcoat

I tried to catch the pretty purple color hidden in there the best I could. I've seen some other bloggers catch it beautifully. I showed two nails with topcoat thinking maybe the duo-chrome would show more. Nope. Less, actually. But while it's not obvious, it definitely adds depth and dimension. I love this polish so much. For some reason, it reminds me of Starry Night by Van Gogh.

As for formula, the texture is great and this is only two coats, but in the sunlight you may notice that two coats isn't quite completely opaque. Also, the wear wasn't as good as the Sinful Colors textured polish in my last review. I had noticeable tip wear the next day.

Overall, I love the color, depth, and texture and I'm glad to have it in my collection. But for the price and size of the bottle, I probably wouldn't get another unless I knew the formula improved.

Do you have any of the L'Oreal textures? What do you think of them? Thanks for reading!

I'm Alive! Finally a New Post?!

Ermahgerd, I'm so so so sorry, guys. I have been SO very distracted with the holidays and life in general that I honestly haven't even been painting my nails. BUT! I finally got around to it this week. Yeah, I can't believe it either. (^_^;)

So, like every year, we went to VA for Thanksgiving to spend it with my husband's family. And of course, since we don't have Rite-Aid in FL, I had to make a stop. Right? Well, I ended up picking up way more polish than I ever purchase at once. So, be expecting more posts to come.

First up, Sinful Colors Blue Persuasion. It's a gorgeous blurple textured polish with purple glitter. You guys don't even understand!!! Blurples are my ultimate fave shades. So, of course I'm dying all over the place. Yes, it's that good. If you like blurples, anyway. (^_^)

Sinful Colors Textured Polish in Blue Persuasion

Sinful Colors Blue Persuasion

So, just to get back into the swing of things, I'll keep this short. Great coverage in 2 coats and excellent texture. Also, great wear for no topcoat. I know I'm not like most polish addicts, cuz I'm too logical to spend too much for one polish. But when can get such great quality for so cheap, why should I? Well, indies don't count, cuz they're fabulously unique and doing things big brands won't. But we all know that.

And that's it! Again, I'm sorry I've been M.I.A. Thanks for sticking around. Hope everyone had an amazing holiday season and hope your new year is off to a great start. XOXO ~ Tabi

Mrs. P's Nail Potions Swatches and Review

OMG, you guys, I'm so sorry! I've just had so much going on lately. Besides family matters, well no...it's pretty much all family matters. Haha! From late Aug. to mid Oct. we've got 7 family birthdays, my hubby's and my anniversary, a baby shower along with everyday things, and the fact that my daughter and I were sick last week. I don't know which way is up anymore. But I finally got this review done!

Huge apology to Bree at Mrs. P's Nail Potions. Thank you for being so patient and understanding.

So, let's jump right in. This is a pic heavy post containing 4 polishes and a scented top coat from the Fall 2013 Collection from Mrs. P's Nail Potions. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Etsy.

***Disclaimer: I received these polishes for my honest review. All opinions are my own and were in no way influenced.***

I didn't take a pic of the scented top coat, because there wasn't really anything to show. There is however plenty to say! The scent is Pumpkin Chai and it's a LIMITED scent that is only available until the end of October. If you love Autumn, pumpkin, and/or chai/spice scents, I highly recommend you get your hands on this. I cannot tell you how amazing this smells.

Opening the bottle you can't smell anything besides the polish, but once it's dry it smells so delicious that you'll want to eat your fingers. It lasts for days, but the scent does start to fade by day 3. Even though this is limited, she sells a bunch of other scented top coats in scents like Apple Cinnamon, Lemon, Chocolate Fudge and more. The best part is, since they're top coats, you can wear them over any color unlike scented polishes.

Okay, now for the pic spam. All pictures can be clicked to enlarge.

Fawning for You

From the site: "Fawning For You is a highly pigmented soft neutral beige lacquer with a slight creme finish and a subtle gold/metallic shimmer." I'll be honest and say, I didn't think I'd like this color. But it has a peachy undertone which is very pretty. While I'm not a huge fan of metallics, this came off as more pearlescent to me. I think it's a very classy color

Bordeaux Crossing

"Bordeaux Crossing is a highly pigmented shimmery almost brick red lacquer." You can see the "brick red" color in the undertones, but the metallic shimmer almost has a red-violet hue and is very pretty. I don't wear this kind of shade often, but it would be very pretty for a special occasion.

Fall Deeply

"Fall Deeply is a highly pigmented auburn brown lacquer with lots of multicolored shimmer (mainly blue, green and purple)." This polish is beautiful! I could only really see green shimmer, but that was perfect in my opinion. It made me think of the changing leaves of Fall. Very unique and perfect for the season. This was my favorite of the four colors I received.

Lean Mean & Aubergine

"Lean, Mean & Aubergine is a highly pigmented deep brownish purple with beautiful purple shimmer." This was my second favorite. Not only is the color lovely, but the quality is fabulous. I wore this for 3 days without a topcoat and had no chipping, only minimal tip wear.

All of the polishes have an excellent formula. They are highly pigmented and are almost one coaters, but you don't quite get the full richness of the color in one coat. There was some streaking with the lighter colors, but that's to be expected with shimmer and metallic polishes. The streaking is less prevalent in the darker the colors. Other than that, I had no problems with any of these polishes. Great coverage and quality.

There are four more colors in the collection and they are beautiful jewel-toned purple, green, blue, and dark pink. Definitely check them out!

So, I hope you all are having a wonderful week. I apologize again for the absence. If you have any questions about any of these polishes, feel free to ask. Talk to you soon!

Swatches/Review: Lac Attack - Cell Block Tango Collection

Hey, guys! Today, I've got a major swatchfest. This post will be pic heavy, because I have the entire Cell Block Tango Collection from Lac Attack to show you! It's inspired by the song of the same name in the musical, "Chicago." So, lets jump right in. You can click to enlarge these photos for a better look.

Lac Attack - Cell Block Tango Collection

Top to Bottom, L-R: Cicero, Uh-Uh, Lipschitz, Six, Pop, Squish

First up, Pop. From the site: "Pop contains hot pink and black matte glitter in circles and hexes in a clear base." This glitter topper is so fun. I love the matte circle glitters. It screams 80s pop art. I think this would be great over most cream colors. Something I noticed was these glitter toppers dry really fast! I had just finished my second coat of Pop when my daughter asked for help with something. I was worried I had dinged my mani, but it was already dry! Bonus! There was no fishing, but as with any glitter, some placement was necessary. This is 2 coats and topcoat.

Lac Attack - Pop

"Squish contains black, gunmetal silver, and red glitter in hexes and bars." This was my least favorite in the collection, but that is just my personal taste. This is 2 coats with topcoat. No problems, quick dry time. The bar glitters make me think of pom poms for some reason. Thus, Squish would be great for any fans of sports teams with red and black team colors. Also reminds me of 101 Dalmatians. ^_^

Lac Attack - Squish

"Six contains six different kinds of metallic glitter in a clear base, in green, purple, and blue!" If two's company then Six is a party! Three of my favorite colors in two different sizes. On my pinky is 3 coats on it's own. The rest of the nails have 2 coats over black, all with topcoat. This is very pretty and sparkly. No issues, great dry time.

Lac Attack - Six

Blurred to show the sparkle.

"Uh-Uh is a purplish/magenta color with a beautiful shimmer." I would describe it as raspberry, but either way, it's beautiful. The first coat was a little streaky, but not terrible. The second coat fixed everything. This is 2 coats with no topcoat. This is a great shimmer that can be worn anytime.

Lac Attack - Uh-Uh

Cicero is described as "...a deep purple shimmer with coppery flakies" but the flakies come off more pink in my opinion. It really lightens the polish up and it actually wears lighter than shown here. This is 2 coats with topcoat. The first coat was streaky and pulled a little, but the second coat smoothed everything out just fine. The color is gorgeous. I absolutely love purples and this is no exception.

Lac Attack - Cicero

"Lipschitz is a lovely medium green shimmer and tiny charcoal-colored flakies." Lovely indeed! The blue shimmer really lightens up this polish and almost gives it a jade tone. The charcoal flakies, I think, add to that jade/stone feel. It's a really unique color and if you like green, I highly recommend this one. Possible one coater, but two for best results. This is 2 coats with topcoat.

Lac Attack - Lipschitz

Wears Closer to The Color Above ^

Sorry for the pic overload. So, what do you think? Will you be getting any of these? I think there are some really unique, fun, and pretty polishes in this collection. If you like what you see, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Let me know what you think. I love to hear from you all. I hope you have a wonderful week!

**Disclaimer: These polishes were sent for my honest review. All opinions are my own and were in no way influenced.