Nailuv kit

This Christmas I got a LED soak-off Gel kit (brand is nailuv). It took some fiddling but now that I can apply it properly it comes out looking superb. I find it does have a longer lasting power but if you are someone with their hands constantly in water than it doesn't last the 2 weeks. You might get a few days if you are lucky if you are a swimmer or a dishwasher or someone that has to for work (or whatnot) wash their hands a lot. I love the look of gel nails they look so sleek.

So this kit came with a buffer, a nail stick, an instruction leaflet,
a lamp,

a bottle of remover (acetone), a bottle of cleaner (rubbing alcohol),
a bottle of bonder (15mL),












a bottle of base/top coat (15mL)












and 5 polish colours (7mL; 0.24oz).












All-in-all a great kit, the sucky thing is at retail price it is more than $100 unless you can find it at Costco or some cheap warehouse like place.

So I am really getting into the gel polish, except for the prices of the stupid polishes.

Quo by Orly sells some 4.4mL (0.15 oz) bottles for about $10!












At Sally Beauty they had about 10mL (1/3 oz) bottles for about $15 which is getting more reasonable












and nailuv sells 15mL (0.5 oz) bottles for $10-15 which seems pretty good (if you don't include shipping). I know OPI has some gel polishes and I want to try those but I have to find them first... :P

Since we cure gel polishes under an LED or UV lamp (oh btw. all gel polishes can be cured with UV but not all can be cured with LED so make sure you buy ones that work with your type of lamp) sunlight can thicken the polish. This is why they are kept in opaque bottles (mainly black), to prevent sunlight from thickening and potentially ruining your beautiful, expensive polish.

Beauty Store

Yay! I found a beauty store in my area that sells lots of nail art supplies.

So I was looking online where to find some nail polish thinner since it was recommended that I don't use actual paint thinner. And someone on a forum was like I get mine at Sally Beauty, so I looked online and found one like right beside my mall and I was amazed that I had never spotted it before since I often drive past it to leave the mall.

Sally Beauty might be my new favorite store :)

There are lots of things for nail art like striping tape and rhinestones. There was also some polish brands I had been looking for but couldn't find, like Orly and China Glaze. There were also some gel polishes which is nice since so far I had only been able to find the little tiny Quo bottles, but Sally Beauty had 2 or 3 different brands that were actually normal sized bottles. :)

Price wise nothing too different (than I could tell) than other stores, though I did find their OPI polishes about $1.00 more but I think there is some sort of loyalty card that can make the prices drop a dollar or two.

Needles to say I got myself some polish thinner (I laughed since Orly and OPI both had a bottle the same size and with the exact same 2 ingredients and OPI's was more expensive), a white gel polish, striping tape and Seche Vite (which I had also been looking for)

I am now debating about paying $5 and getting a membership card. If I get the card they will give me a $5 coupon to be used within the month. As well as if I spend $35 in a month they give me a %15 off coupon. And If I don't save $5 worth my $5 membership for next year will be free.

I will probably only go there if I need nail art supplies, gel polishes, China Glaze or Orly. This is because the Shoppers near my house has a clearance rack where they often have $2 nail polishes which saves me on cost and limits how much I buy since I try to buy from only that rack (plus grabbing extras from there makes good presents)

Pink Floyd

I grew up listening to Pink Floyd, being that they are my Dad's favorite band. So I made this one just for him.

I was unhappy with the colours I chose. I thought that they would be good but when I did it the rainbow didn't work with itself :( If I did it again I would have to go colour shopping and play with the colours before I did my nails. Overall I am very pleased with how it turned out. It also got great reception :) I am (sadly) not ambidextrous so I didn't dare try doing it on my right hand instead I wrote Dark Side of the Moon on my nails using a nail art pen :)

Now I need to do Another Brick in the Wall nails

Sephora

Sephora

This is Sephora's beautiful Get Revenge. It's an amazing pinkish red, beautiful shine and opaque.
My mom went to France last summer as a leader with a youth retreat.
After the retreat in Taizé they went to Paris for a few days. Of course the girls dragged the leaders into the largest Sephora in the world. Of course all she gets for herself and me is 3 small bottles of beautiful polish and 2 nail files...Haha. But of course Sephora can be costly.

Home-made Polishes

The polishes I have made myself 

This was just pure glitter I tried. I went to Michaels and picked up a whole bunch of glitter (I went through a glitter faze). What I did was put on a base coat. Take your chosen glitter and pour it onto the nail. If spots were missed then use a clear coat in the spots and repeat. Then seal it all with a top coat to you wont leave a trail of glitter. I found this to stay on for ages. I wore it at work (which probably wasn't good since I may have left glitter in food...) but I didn't find any chipping for days, I was amazed. Tips are to get a higher quality glitter that wont bleed onto your top coat. 

This is made form the Essence brand eye shadow. The name is Happy Hour. To make this I bought suspension base, ball bearings and empty bottles. I mixed about 1/2 suspension base and 1/2 clear polish. I added 2 ball bearings and then added as much eye shadow as I wanted. The eye shadow should be finely chopped up so not to become clumpy. As well as use a paper funnel or it will get messy quick. For next time I make some though I think I will do the whole thing suspension base since I find that the pigment does settle quite thickly at the bottom of the bottle. So unless you choose a dark pigment the polish will come out very sheer. This is a good way to use up old eye shadows that you don't use anymore.

Maybelline Polishes

My Maybelline Polishes. Their Colour Show collection has some beautiful colours

Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots, Pretty In Polka #85. This is from their new (and I may have seen limited time?) Polka Dot Collection. The bottle said to me buy me I am awesome and pink ;)  hehe I really like this one. It's sort of like glitter polish but instead of glitter, it has black and white hexagonal spots. What I have is 3 coats on but I think I may want 4 coats for a more opaque look. It creates an awesome looks and its instant design. The spots were just as much of a pain in the butt to remove as actual glitter in polish though. 

Maybelline Color Show Twilight Rays #240. So I was a bit disappointed when I got this, the bottle made it look really sparkly and stuff but wen I put it on it didn't have that same wow :( I got a better design by using black polish with lots of glitter over top (see the below picture)

Ardene's Tuxedo with Tivoli's glitter polish on top

Because of that I put it in my presents stash, and one of my best friends chose it for her birthday this year 

Maybelline Color Show Brocades Collection, Amethyst Couture. This one looked so amazing in the bottle I bought a blue and white/silver one as well but when I put it on I didn't like it nearly as much :( The bottle made it look very glittery and maybe even holographic. But it had some really chunky glitters that made it into almost a textured. Needles to say I was disappointed, into the present pile they go :)

Essie Polishes

My Essie Polishes (they have the most beautiful pastels)

 This is one of Essie's Magnetic polishes. It's called Crocadilly. I really like this colour and I was really interested in trying a magnetic polish. As my first try I found that since the magnet is flat and a nail is rounded I had to do it as 2 or 3 parts. It works by (and the directions on the label say) that to paint one thin coat on all the nails. Then to paint a think coat on a nail and right away holding the magnet over it as close as possible. So what I found was the top part of my nail would change but then I would go to do the sides and it would be too dry so I would have to add more paint. It was a pain in the butt but I made it work and it looks really cool when done :) The green had a shine and it didn't streak.

Essie Shake Your $$ Maker. This is a beautiful green but it needs quite a few layers and it turns out matte. I don't like matte because I enjoy the look of shiny nails. But Mattes do have uses in nail art.

Essie Meet Me At Sunset. A dark orange/red. It has good coverage (not sheer), it doesn't streak and has a shine.

Ombre

So my friend and I bought 2 Ombre sets by LA Girl 

One was Girls Night Out, A bright summer one

the other was Spring Fling, A blue one with glitter

Personally I like the Girls Night Out better since its brighter, the blue one is too...I don't know boring? But who knows maybe it looks better wearing it than on swatchicles. Anyways luckily my friend was the one who bought it not me :) So the kits came with a top coat as well. Girls Night Out came out as matte.

Gosh

Gosh

This is Gosh's Ocean. It does look like ocean water. It has the perfect mix of blues and teals, with a brilliant shine. Every time I paint my cousin's nails she chooses this one :)

China Glaze

China Glaze

So where I live it's easier to find OPI than China Glaze so I have very few of these.

This beautiful, bright fushia is called Beach Cruise-r

This one I got at Christmas from my brother and when I asked him where he got it so I would know the store he said his girl friends he was shopping with shoved him into a store...SO I am still on the hunt.

When I went to use this one is was incredibly think, I'm not sure if he grabbed a bad one or if it's this colour or if it's China Glaze in general... :(

But I have now gotten some thinner and I am happy to say that it is now workable, And I know know where to find China Glaze