crackled out phoebe

Omg it's been a crazy, stressful week and next week is going to be even more insane. Wish me luck please =)

I wanted to show you what I did with my nails last week. I'm SO addicted to phoebe, only thing is that it chips SO fast =(  and I'm not talking about little chips. This time around when I put the crackle on top of phoebe, some of the inside chipped off BEFORE the outside chipped- SO WEIRD!! Has that ever happened to you before? I will have to try it with different bases and top coats to find which one will maximize the length of wear of the pretty, pretty phoebe.

So let's get started. I used zoya's get even ridge filling basecoat. It comes in a cool professional box. BTW, I got their color lock system. I'm not sure if I took a picture of it, but I will and I'll show you next time.

Then I used two coats of phoebe.

Then after it dried. I put on one coat of china glaze's crackle in concrete. It doesn't go on as easy as opi's shatter, more streaky but I still think it came out well. 

and wa-la =P  crackled out phoebe. It kinda looks like dutch crunch bread huh? HAHA... or maybe I'm just hungry...

It came out looking very nice and matte but then I put on zoya's hurry up speedy dry drops and it became shiny. boo =( The speedy drops have Cemellia oil in it which probably brought on the shiny. 

So I had to use china glaze's matte magic to correct it. LOVE it!! Thank you matte magic, you're a life saver!

What do you think? Do you like it or prefer phoebe on her own? I love how the blue peaks out from behind the gray and still stands strong. 

zoya phoebe

omg! I love this color. I'm not a fan of matte, but I will make an exception for this one. This color is just SO hard to resist. Don't let the smoothness fool you. This polish is a bit difficult to use. It dries ridiculously fast (like by the 3rd stroke to spread the polish on the nail). And it dries weird and streaked. I had to do my right middle finger 3 times! I've never had to redo nail polish that many times ever. 

And even though it might be more trouble than you might care for. I love it and am constantly looking at my fingers =)

Another downer is that I painted my nails on Friday. It started to chip on Sunday =(

That's pretty fast for me. Usually the tops of my nails would start to recede a little bit but it doesn't chip until near the end of the week, if not well into the next. Still after all the negatives, I am keeping this bottle in rotation and will probably mix it up with some Konad plates at some point and see how that does. This is my first and last matte nail polish unless someone comes up with a color this irresistible. 

Here is what I used for this manicure. I used the Zoya Anchor base coat.

Then I painted 2 coats of Zoya Phoebe.

Last, I painted on China Glaze's Matte Magic top coat.

And there you have it. Let's look at it one more time.

I've read on some other blogs that matte top coats on top of matte nail polishes makes it chip easier and faster. Also that matte nail polishes are prone to chipping in general. 

What do you think? Do you like the color? Is it worth the trouble? What's your favorite matte polish?

solaroil

On the SolarOil site it says:

A synergistic blend of naturally light oils and vitamin e, designed to deeply penetrate and protect skin and nails. Jojoba oil carries vitamin e deeply into skin to help reduce visible signs of aging. Naturally light oils keep skin soft and supple. Keeps natural nails, nail color and nail enhancements tough and flexible. Repeated use drives oils deeper into natural nail. Super penetrating formula conditions skin and nails.

I've used this bottle for like 8 years on and off. On and off because I never liked it very much. I recently pushed myself to finish it because I bought more cuticle oil that I couldn't wait to try and I FINALLY finished it after all these years!! In their defense, they have probably in, that 8 years changed their formula and is better. Overall, I felt like it just didn't condition very well. I had a friend that was raving about it, so I had to check it out and never got why she like it SO much *shrug.* I've already found another cuticle oil that I like a lot better =)  Which I will show and review in another post. 

pretty nails

I am excited to share with you what I have on my nails this week =)

This is the Orly Bonder I used this week as my base. I think it's a pretty good base. It dries really fast. When it dries, it has this kind of rubbery stickiness to it that I think makes the nail polish adhere better to the nail.

This is one coat of OPI's Dinner for Two nail polish. It's a nice sheer nude color. I think this is generally used for french manicures.

This is 2 coats of OPI's Dinner for Two nail polish. Can you see the difference? Kinda hard huh? I can see that it's slightly more opaque but I probably wouldn't notice it if someone didn't point it out to me.

The final result is....Dun, da-dun DUN...

This is one coat of Deborah Lippman's Glitter in the Air over OPI's Dinner for Two. Don't you just LOVE it?! It's so simple but fun. It kinda reminds me of those Mother's Animal Cookies. I've had it on for 2 days now and I still love looking at it. It's like I went to a party and got confetti stuck on my nails.

This is what I used all together.

From left to right,
Orly Bonder $8, OPI Dinner for Two ($8-$9), Deborah Lippman's Glitter in the Air $18! ( I know right?! I got mine at Nordstroms. I REALLY like it though.), and Borghese's Top Coat $10.


What do you think? Do you like it? Have you tried any of these polishes before? Do you think the Glitter in the Air is worth it? Holla back yo =)

nails

This is how I did my nails last week.

I LOVE this pink glitter nail polish by Missha!! It's SUPER pretty. These are the other polishes that I used.

From left to right,

Orly's Bonder- a rubberized basecoat. I used this on my left hand and Butter London's nail foundation on my right. My right hand didn't chip as fast OR as badly. Even so, It didn't start chipping until the second day. My right hand didn't start chipping until the 4th day.

Butter London's Nail Foundation- Flawless basecoat is right! This is the BEST looking basecoat I have ever used. When I first put this on, I hesitated to keep painting my nails. Yes it looks that good. It makes your nail look like your nail, but with a matte/ satin like finish. When comparing it next to a nail that hasn't been painted, you can tell the difference right away. 

Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Disco Ball- I've been looking for a clear glitter polish for a while now and I thought this one was perfect. How glitter polish has changed... before the glitter would stay in the bottle or come out in pieces wear you can pick it off your nail. But this one had glitter that was fine enough to go on smoothly. It was also subtle enough that it didn't overpower the pink Missha which is exactly what I wanted. 

Borghese Presto Fast Dry Top Coat- I really like this fast dry top coat. I once bought a really cheap fast dry top coat at Walmart and it was HORRIBLE. It took FOREVER to dry, slower than a regular nail polish! This one however, I brush it on last and wait for a minute (to be on the safe side) and my nails are dry and shiny smooth! 

Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength Diamond Shine Base & Top Coat- This one was great and really gave me that diamond bling shine. I've had this polish forever and used it all the time so now it's gotten goopy and I can't find my polish thinner =(  I was able to use it this one last time before I put it aside until I find my thinner. I actually used this before the Borghese top coat but lined it up wrong in the picture- my bad!

Solar Oil- a nail conditioner. I've also had this forever but have been lazy about using it. I think it's an okay conditioner but I know a lot of people who love it. I have some other nail conditioner waiting in the wings that I'm excited to use so I'm just trying to finish this off. 

For this week, I tried to do this really cute bee nail that I saw on youtube but it was an ultimate fail =(

However I'm too lazy to take it off so I will just let it chip away. haha

This is my right thumb and I learned I have a lot more control of my left hand than I think. The bee on my right thumb turned out so much better than the bee on my left thumb. The flower is a sticker that I bought at Sasa in Shanghai. The rest of my fingers are horrid, I didn't let the dashes dry long enough I guess and they smeared when I put on the top coat. I will attempt this again in the future.

These are the polishes I used from left to right.

Orly's Bonder- a rubberized basecoat. I'm going to keep using this until I finish it, but I do think it's a decent basecoat.

The Face Shop BL603- I like this blue a lot. I used 2 coats and it came out darker when compared to the bottle. 

Zoya in Creamy- for the bee.

OPI in Black Onyx- for the dashes and bee stripes.

OPI in Gargantuan Green Grape- for the petals of the flower, you can barely see it. 

Skinfood in Milky Creamy Nail- as my top coat. I like this a lot. It's more watery than most top coats so it goes on really easy and the packaging it totally ADORABLE. 

Borghese Presto Fast Dry Top Coat- I don't know why I use 2 top coats. I'm not sure it that's even right to do but I think it looks better with two.

For the white wings on the bee I used

Essie in Blanc- but wth right? I know I've had this for a long time but this has never happened to any of my other nail polishes. This is the second time it cracked. I crazy glued the pieces back the first time but this time was extremely hard to open just like the first time but after banging it against my table a few times I was able to loosen it. But as I turned to open the bottle, it cracked and started falling apart so I think it's time to let it go to nail polish heaven. It's a pet peeve of mine to toss unused product but I reasoned that it's not like I can save it since nail polish isn't something you can just transfer to another container. And at this rate, it's just a matter of time before it dries out. I want a more opaque white anyway. Time to shop =)

Show me your nails =)