China Glaze - Traffic Jam + Making a Mani Last

Today I have for you China Glaze Traffic Jam from their new Metro Collection. If you read my previous post, you got to see a sneak peek of one nail! Now you get to see them all!

 

 Traffic Jam is described as a raspberry pink creme, which I would say is pretty accurate! When not in the light, it has more of a purple hue which would make this an awesome pink for the fall! This polish was a dream to apply and was opaque in one coat! 

As prefaced in my last post, I tried to make this manicure last as long as possible in fear of messing up my teabag patch! (Which I might add, is still holding strong and the tear is growing out!) Let me show you a few pictures of how I switched up the look to keep it looking fresh!

I added Essie Matte About You Topcoat!

(The edge of the thumb looks crinkley...that'd be the edge of the teabag. Matte shows flaws like no other!)

But looking over the nail, you can't see the outline! Yay!

Then after a few days I tried to switch this mani up again by making it French! It looks a little sloppy in my opinion. I need to find a better way to mix the two looks together. Ugh. Oh well. It grew on me more after awhile!

So that is how I worked my Traffic Jam mani for a week! Have you guys tried this color or any others from the Metro collection? Was the application as amazing as this polish? I'm curious to know!

Jenn

Nursing a Nail Tear: Using a Teabag

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on "nursing" a torn nail. This particular tear is on my thumb, right where the free edge begins. Typically I would have torn it off and chopped all my nails down to nubbins, but that's such a crime! Even cutting the tear and reshaping my nail would just not be right!

The last time this happened to me, I heard about a fix (unfortunately it was after I finished tearing it off). I heard someone in a Facebook group talking about the "Teabag Trick." I immediately went to YouTube and searched for a video. It seemed pretty simple. With this most recent tear, I jumped right on trying this method. After seeing that it prevented the the nail from further tearing, or more importantly, catching something and ripping off, I decided to photodocument this method. Some of the pictures are a little blurry,  but I was hurrying to work through the steps and photograph at the same time. Also, it was indoors and the lighting was not the best!

In order to Nurse a Nail Tear using a Teabag you will need:

• One teabag with contents removed
• Scissors
• Clear Base Coat

Now let's get started!

If you enlarge the picture you can see the tear on the right side of my thumb, right where the free edge begins. It's a little higher, because this was approximately 1 week after the tear occured and it has already grown out some. In this photo you can also see that I simply cut the top off of my teabag and emptied the tea leaves.

Next, cut a small piece of the teabag so that it will cover the tear and some surrounding area. It does not need to cover the whole nail. Also, save this teabag! You'll be able to get multiple patches from one bag!

Using your clear coat, place a dot over the tear as seen in the picture. This will allow the teabag to stick down while you continue working.

Place the cut out piece of the bag over top of the tear, pressing it onto the spot of polish to help it stay in place. Next, carefully brush another coat of your clear polish over the entire nail so that the bag is moistened. Caution: the bag may slide around. Should this happen, just slide it back over the tear. You can press it down using the end of the brush. You can also just the end of the brush to help get rid of any air bubbles.

The bag becomes opaque once completely covered. When dry, it will feel hard like a cast. If the edges are too rough for your liking, you can use a buffer to help smooth out the edges. I did not do this personally, because I didn't want to take away from the thickness over the tear. I have found that the sharp edge of the tear will occasionally start to poke through the bag. Simply applying another layer has helped increase durability.

Just incase your wondering how this looks under the polish, here's a sneak peak at my next post!

Do you see a patch? 'Cause I don't see a patch! (All I see is stringy Seche Vite! Yuck..) I will be showing you how I transformed the look of this manicure over the coarse of a week. I was afraid to remove the polish, because I didn't want to have to change my patch very often. Interestingly though, I have been able to remove the polish from the nail and patch without the bag coming off! I would just avoid using 100% pure acetone, unless you want to remove the patch!

Keep in mind that this is only a temporary fix! You may have to change the patch multiple times while the nail continues to grow out, or if like me, your nail pokes through the bag.

I hope you guys enjoy this tutorial and find it helpful! Please feel free to leave any feedback!

Jenn

A Great Summer Orange! OPI Bright Lights, Big Color

Sorry for the mini hiatus! I tore one of my nails and have been working on "nursing it" back to health! No worries though! I have been photographing my cares to share with you guys! So stay tuned for the premier of my "Nursing Your Nails" posts!

Today I am going to share with you a beautiful orange shimmer polish that I tried before my nail mishap. Check out OPI's Bright Lights, Big Color!

 

Bright Lights, Big Color is a warm orange shimmer with coral undertones. The gold shimmer is what makes this so warm and inviting! It would be beautiful on any skintone. The application was flawless and this polish was opaque in three coats. Topped with my trusted Seche Vite, I was able to wear this polish for 3-4 days without tipwear or chipping!

Have you tried this color? What are your thoughts?

For Audrey - Holo Style!

Hello Lovelies! Sorry for the minor absence! I have had a few hectic days at work, followed by a computer malfunction! It has since recovered from it's Diet Coke bath, and we are back up and running! Good timing too! I have a new favorite manicure that I want to share with everyone!

In addition...I have finally reach 50 follower! Woot Woot! I am so excited! I count each of you one by one, and so happy that ya'll have chosen to follow my little blog! Like I mentioned in my previous post, there won't be a giveaway yet. But when I reach 100, I will have one! Now lets get onto the polish, shall we?

As you could tell by the title, I started with China Glaze For Audrey, which is a gorgeous Tiffany blue cream!

For Audrey is opaque in 2 coats, but I applied 3 for good measure. I then applied Seche Vite Topcoat for the added protection. Although this was beautiful on it's own, I was tempted to add some sparkle since the sun was shinin' bright! I decided to try my Out The Door Silver Holographic Top Coat that I showed you from my most recent haul. The results = AMAZING!

Indoors, indirect sunlight

Outdoors

OOOOOH!

The OTD Silver holo topcoat is a scattered holo glitter. I really liked using this because it is a subtle addition to a mani, that has a large impact in the sunlight! Also, you can make it as little or as much as you'd like. Since the sun was shinin' bright, I wanted a stronger holo effect, so I used 3 coats.

A small side note about this holo topcoat. The glitter settles at the bottom of the bottle, requiring occasional shaking or inverting to keep it suspended in the clear base.

I really enjoyed this manicure. For Audrey is a soft, feminine color and the holo topcoat's colors compliment the light blue very well. This would be a great look for spring with the bright pastel colors! What I also love about this, is that you can make the holo more concentrated if you desire. I'm really excited to use this topcoat with other polishes. I also hope to do a comparison between OTD Silver holo topcoat and some other holo topcoats I have recently purchased. So keep your eyes out for that to come!

Jenn

I'm Back! With Senorita Rose-alita

Happy Monday Everyone! I am officially back from vacation! Florida was amazing, but I was ready to be home. I missed my beloved dog so much! So to help beat the Monday/Back to reality blues, I have a fresh manicure to share with you!

OPI Senorita Rose-alita is one of the first polishes I bought for my rapidly growing collection! I fell in love with it on the rack and it has been one of my favorites since. Senorita Rose-alita a soft fuchsia with a micro gold shimmer. It's a warm color and is perfect for summer or fall!

This polish was opaque in 2 coats and dried pretty quickly! I love how the tone of this polish changes with the light. At times it looks really pink, and other times the purple undertone comes through. You can see this difference in the second picture when comparing the nails and the bottle.

Have you guys tried this color? What are your thoughts on it?

On another note...I am ONE follower away from 50! I have been watching the count increase one by one and I am so excited! However, do not expect a giveaway just yet! I will likely be waiting until I reach 100 to offer a giveaway. While I feel I have been improving in my photography skills, I could still use some practice, and hopefully by 100, my photos will be looking good! But, feel free to help share the love!

Have a good one!

Jenn

Cozu-melted in the Sun

 

Look at the GORGEOUS color of OPI Cozu-melted in the Sun! It's a lovely copper/rose shimmer polish. It was opaque in 2 coats, but I did 3 for good measure. With 3 coats, I had no visable nail line! I topped it with 1 coat of Seche Vite topcoat, and this manicure was able to survive 2 full days of beach and pool without chipping our peeling! This has been a great polish to have on my beach vacation - I highly recommend taking along with you! I originally packed it hoping the neutral color would help me look tan...but as you can see..I'm still pale! I love how this color changes with lighting. At times it looks like a metallic copper, other times a shimmery rose pink, and sometimes it looks like silver and copper flecks. I've been gathering pictures of this manicure while I've been exploring the city, so let's take a look!

Copper

Rosey

Flecks!

I'm so happy with this polish! I was hesitant to buy it...I didn't think the color would look good on me. I have even avoided using it. It became like the "ugly-duckling" of my stash. Not anymore! This is definitely a swan in my stash! It will be a go-to summer polish! It's beautiful without being "in-your-face!"

What are some of your go-to summer polishes? Or must-have polishes for the beach??

Lots of sunburnt love!

Jenn

Austin-tatious Turquoise and Hogwarts?? (Picture Heavy!)

Based on the title, most of you, I'm sure, can guess why I haven't had a post in a couple of days! The husband and I took a little road trip to Florida! Yesterday we visited Universal Studios. I have been waiting forever to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Let me just tell you! It's amazing!! If you have any desire to go, you should! My pictures do not do this place justice! If you love the movies like me, then this place is a must-see! Here are a couple shots of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade!

 

Amazing, right?! You may want to click to enlarge the picture so that you can truly see the amazing detail put into the buildings! Even the snow shimmers (in the scorching Flordia weather! haha) And the butterbeer! AMAZING! I could ramble about this place forever, so let's move on to the polish...shall we?

While making the rather long drive from Ohio to Florida, I got bored and began peeling/chipping off my Grape...Set...Match... I used remover at the next gas station stop to finish removing, and then painted my nails in the car somewhere between Atlanta and Valdosta Georgia. I didn't initially take any pictures in the sunlight, because I was disgusted with how sloppy my paint job was! I might add that it's quite difficult to paint your nails in the car. Nonetheless, I was able to do some clean up once dried, and I took some pictures using my fancy hotel bedside lamp! Not the best pictures ever, but they will do!

Austin-tatious Turquoise was opaque/no visible nail line after 4 coats, so I would recommend using a white basecoat if you don't want to use as many layers! It's a pretty turquoise color, which will show more of its green or blue side depending on the lighting and angle. You can see this in the last two pictures. Even more drastically in the sunlight. I wanted to get some good sunlight pictures, but I had some tip wear after less than 24 hours and I took it off. While the color is gorgeous, this isn't one of my favorites. The formula seemed too thin and too sheer for my liking! I'm just not that patient! I also tend to think blues and greens look weird with my skin tone. Maybe I'll give it a second chance...or you may see it up for swaps!

Sorry for such a long post! I hope you enjoyed the NOTD and Hogwarts!

Jenn