April is Autism Awareness Month!

OPI Lights of Emerald City and Get Your Number layered over  Orly Sweet Peacock, sun

I'm going to wear only blue nails during April in support of those whose lives are touched by autism. Like last year, it kind of snuck up on me, so for now I have this manicure to share with you:

 

OPI Lights of Emerald City and Get Your Number layered over  Orly Sweet Peacock, shade

I started with 2 coats of Orly Sweet Peacock on all my nails. Then I added 2 coats of Get Your Number, the OPI Liquid Sand, over my ring and index finger. I added 1 coat of Lights of Emerald city on the other 2 fingers. The OPI glitter features white square glitter and smaller holo squares in a clear base. I think both of these worked really well with Sweet Peacock, gorgeous turquoise foil polish. 

OPI Lights of Emerald City and Get Your Number layered over  Orly Sweet Peacock, sun

Nope, still don’t like texture-Zoya Nyx with saran wrap technique

Zoya Nyx with saran wrap method, sun

Every time I saw pictures of different texture polishes, I didn’t like the look. I read about people who loved texture polishes once they saw them in person. I saw some swatched on nail wheels and remained unimpressed. Despite all this, I somehow ended up buying Zoya Nyx.  The lovely periwinkle color and sparkly glitter got me. A lot of bloggers seemed to have had their opinions turned around once they tried a texture polish for themselves, so I hoped to be one of them. I’d been admiring colors like OPI I Have a Herring Problem and Zoya Skylar for a long time, and Zoya Nyx seemed to be the dusty blue glitter version of those kinds of colors.

 Let me tell you people- I came, I polished, and I still hate the texture finish. Blegh. I should’ve saved my money for the real polishes I wanted instead of wasting my time trying to like texture.

See more pictures and find out what other color I used in this manicure, after the jump!

Yum! Jelly Bean Blue is a delicious milky blue

Hard Candy Jelly Bean Blue layered over China Glaze Kinetic Candy, sunlight

I was really excited to hear about Hard Candy's milky glitter polishes when they became available, so it didn't take me long to hit a Walmart in search of them. Even though I liked a lot of them, the only one I brought home with me the first time was Jelly Bean Blue. JBB is a very light blue milky base with black and blue glitters. Though I liked the milky glitter look of Jelly Bean Blue in the bottle, it seemed nearly white when I tried it out on my nails. That's why I chose to wear Hard Candy Jelly Bean Blue over 2 coats of China Glaze Kinetic Candy. I think it makes for a lovely look overall. When I wore Jelly Bean Blue on its own, I used 3 coats of it for full coverage, but I only used 1 coat when I layered it for this manicure.

layered Hard Candy Jelly Bean Blue, shade

I think that a lot of us nail fanatics are thrilled to finally see some milky glitter polishes from larger polish brands. I am especially glad Hard Candy is offering us a whole variety of milky glitters at a budget friendly price of $3.97. If you like light blue and milky glitters, this is definitely a great one!

Jump if you'd like to see a couple more pictures. :)

Really Green Ocean! (St. Patrick's Day pt. 2)

Sinful Colors Green Ocean over China Glaze Holly Day, shade

I have no idea why I never thought to layer Sinful Colors Green Ocean over a dark green. Now that I've tried the flakie over China Glaze Holly Day, all I can say is "Wow!"

Sinful Colors Green Ocean is a blue-green flakie in a light green base. It looked stunning over Holly Day, a dark green creme from a China Glaze holiday collection. I later added a coat of NYC Matte Me Crazy and made the look matte.

Sinful Colors Green Ocean over China Glaze Holly Day, matte

If you don't yet own Sinful Colors Green Ocean, be sure to check your local Walgreens for it. It's part of the limited edition St. Patrick's Day display that will soon be getting pulled as new displays come out.


Check out a few more pictures after the jump!

My St. Patrick's Day nails - Rainbow in the sky

St. Patrick's Day manicure with Sinful Colors Sugar Rush blue base

Here is the St. Patrick's Day manicure that I wore yesterday. I started with 3 coats of Sinful Colors Sugar Rush, a lovely pastel blue. Then, I stamped a shamrock my pinky with China Glaze Holly Day. I created a pot of gold with Wet n Wild Ebony Hates Chris and a striping brush. I added a bunch of gold "coins" with golden yellow microbeads that I picked up using clear polish and a toothpick. I made my rainbow with the same striping brush as before and the following colors: Sally Hansen Rapid Red, Revlon Electric, Holly Day, and Sinful Colors Amethyst.   Finally, I used my largest dotting tool to create a cloud with Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

St. Patrick's Day manicure using nail art brushes, stamping and microbeads

China Glaze Fade Into Hue comparisons

China Glaze Fade Into Hue, center, in comparison with other lavenders

There are already a lot of periwinkle polishes on the market, and periwinkle fans are wondering how China Glaze Fade Into Hue compares to some of the others. I couldn't find any dupes in the colors I compared Fade Into Hue with, but there were a lot of colors that are very close.

Here is China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le swatched next to Fade Into Hue. China Glaze Fade Into Hue is on my ring and index fingers, Secret Peri-wink-le is on my middle and pinky fingers. These were really difficult to tell appart from each other, Secret Periwinkle is just slightly bluer and Fade into Hue is a tiny bit dustier.

China Glaze Fade Into Hue swatched with Secret Peri-wink-le

Below is China Glaze Fade Into Hue swatched with Sinful Colors Lavender. I really thought they were dupes after seeing them in the bottle, but in reality, Lavender dries to be quite a bit darker than FIH. Fade Into Hue is on my ring and index fingers, Lavender is on my middle and pinky fingers.

China Glaze Fade Into Hue is not as dark as Sinful Colors Lavender

I have some bottle shots of all 3 of these in the bottle, plus more bottle side by side comparisons with China Glaze Fade Into Hue, after the jump!

Green Ocean can't Fade Into Hue.....it's too pretty!

Sinful Colors Green Ocean over China Glaze Fade Into Hue, natural light

Here is Sinful Colors Green Ocean, a seasonal flakie polish, over a color from the new China Glaze Avante Garden collection, Fade Into Hue. I think flakies are so beautiful that they can never fade into the background. Flakies usually show up better over darker colors, but I think my pictures prove that they can look pretty good over pastels, also.  I started with 2 coats of Fade Into Hue and then added 1 coat of Green Ocean.

Sinful Colors Green Ocean over a

 Here's a picture of China Glaze Fade Into Hue on its own.  Like a lot of purple/blues, it was hard to photograph and I think it's a color you're better off checking out for yourself.  I do, however, have something coming up that should help you decide if you need this color.

China Glaze Fade Into Hue (center )with similar colors

 I’m preparing a post to upload soon, it features a lot of bottle shot comparisons and a couple of swatches of Fade Into Hue and some other colors. For now, join me after the jump for a few more pictures of Fade Into Hue.