Day 2: Golden Snowflakes

I have for you today a pretty mani I did with Orly Luxe. This was two coats of Luxe, snowflakes stamped with Konad special white polish, and a coat of China Glaze Frosty over top. I felt like it still needed more sparkle after all of that, so I placed some rhinestones on the accent nail snowflakes. 

I love this next picture... you can really see the shimmer from Frosty on my blurry middle finger nail. I love this design because it's festive but not over-the-top and in-your-face festive. This could also be done with a lot of different color schemes, too! :)

Day 1: Peppermint Bark

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break, but now it's time for full-blown-holiday-season-ness! In honor of my love for this time of the year, I decided that I'm going to do a "12 Days of Christmas (and winter/general holiday) Manis" here on The Nail Network. Since I generally post on M/W/F, this will bring us right up to Christmas weekend.

The first mani I have for you is inspired by one of my favorite holiday season treats ever, peppermint bark chocolate! Ghirardelli is the best, but Dove is a close second and the packaging of the individual Dove chocolate is actually the inspiration behind this mani. See?

Anyway, on to the nails! I started out with two coats of China Glaze White on White and once that was dry, I added two coats of ChG Party Hearty. As you can see, Party Hearty is basically Christmas condensed into a tiny bottle of nail polish.

This is where my memory starts getting kind of fuzzy. I know I did at least two coats of ChG Frosty over Party Hearty, but I'm pretty sure I added another layer of PH and Frosty over all of that. I have to mention that I did have a little bit of trouble positioning the red hex glitter on my nails; it kept wanting to slide off towards the tips with the brush.

I love how you can still see all the glitter, but it's all shimmery and kind of hidden under Frosty. I am a huge fan of this. Even my boyfriend thought this was cool ;P

Zoya Jana

Have I mentioned how in love I am with neutrals lately? You'll see why in a minute... this is Zoya Jana, which is an awesome shade of muddy light purple/taupe. I love this so much; it's so classy and sophisticated! I jazzed it up a little by adding a coat of Love My Nails Dazzling to my accent nails. As a Zoya, it's not surprising that the application was perfect and I used two coats of polish.

OPI Diva of Geneva

I bought this on a whim last weekend and OMGI'MSOGLAD. This first photo was taken outside when it was kind of overcast, so the shimmer in Diva of Geneva doesn't really show up like it does under strong lighting. However, this deep plum/magenta polish look gorgeous no matter what lighting you're in. 

I used three coats of polish to get full coverage for these photos. The formula was good; each coat dried quickly and evened out nicely. Now, here's what you really want to see... This is Diva of Geneva under strong artificial lamplight...

*swoon* That gold-ish pink shimmer in there is ridiculous. I die. 

Nails Inc. Magnetic Trafalgar Square

YESSSSS! One of my awesome friends works at Sephora and totally surprised me with this baby! Can you tell how excited I am? We used it right away and it's just as cool as I thought it was going to be and it's really easy to use. I now present to you Nails Inc. magnetic polish in Trafalgar Square.

I painted two coats of polish and let them dry completely. Then, nail by nail, I painted a third coat and held the magnet (in the cap) above my nail for 10-15 seconds. I know it's probably super obvious that I'm easy to amuse, but this is seriously so neat. You can actually watch the design appear under the magnet when you're holding it. Sephora also has a purple and a teal version of this, so get it on your wish list!

French w/Julep Gayle

Remember last week how I mentioned I had another colored french for you? Here it is! This time, I used Julep Gayle for the tip color. The base is still Confetti Pink Paradise and the stamp was done with Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme. I added black rhinestones to the flowers as a finishing touch. This looks so awesome and fancy in person. What do you think? Have you tried using hole reinforcers for a french manicure?

Dr.'s Remedy Fall Fever Collection

I hurried to get these swatched for you all as soon as I got them in the mail since we are quickly running out of "fall" days! I can't believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away! This is the fall collection from Dr.'s Remedy called Fall Fever.

The first color I have for you is NOBLE Navy. I have to say, this is the noblest of all navy cremes. Absolutely perfect application and opaque coverage in two coats. I'm in love.

Next up is BALANCE Brick. Brick is exactly the word I would use to describe this color. It's kind of a dusty red, not very vibrant but still very pretty and fitting for fall. This one was a bit thinner and needed three coats.

And lastly we have DEFENSE Deep Red. Now this is definitely a fall color. Deep, dark, and shiny! I needed three coats for this as well, but I had no application issues and each coat dried quickly. It almost looks more jelly-like than creme.

I cannot even express how excited I am that I get to share these with you guys. I also have the Dr.'s Remedy holiday collection in my hot little hands, so that will be coming up closer to December, but definitely run over to their website and check out their fall shades now while the autumnal mood is still hanging around! 

Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypo-allergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails; their Enriched Nail Polish is the first-ever nail polish on the market approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold online at www.remedynails.com or by calling 1-877-323-NAIL.

Head over and like them on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/Remedynails
And follow on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/#!/remedynails


*The product(s) in this post were sent to me for review.*

My awesome rack(s)!

;) My boyfriend was lovely enough to make these polish racks for me (after much nagging) and he gently reminded me this weekend that I have yet to blog/brag about them. I also had some requests for a video of my collection, but I don't really have the equipment or time for that at the moment, so photos will have to do. You should be able to enlarge them and zoom in to see the bottles better, or you can just shoot me a comment/e-mail if you have any specific questions about anything. This is the first rack that we made a couple months ago. It holds my nail art polishes, Halloween brands, OPI, Julep, Wet 'n' Wild Wild Shine, some randoms, Sinful Colors, Orly, Confetti, Sally Hansen, and China Glaze.

And here is the one that he made me for our anniversary last month. :) This one holds my Dr.'s Remedy (these will all be up on the blog in a week-ish hopefully), my giveaway prize from Nails by Catharina, Wet 'n' Wild Fast Dry, some randoms, Color Club, Revlon, Milani, Zoya, and Essie.

The polish ads are underneath because they hide the L-brackets that we used to mount the racks. :P So, what do you think? He did a pretty great job, right?!

French w/Julep Michelle

Hey guys! This is my 100th post! Woot! :D

I've blogged about all of these colors before so I won't say too much here. I used one coat of Confetti Pink Paradise as my base color. I created the french tip using hole reinforcers and Julep Michelle and I dotted OPI Catch Me in Your Net with three different sized dotting tools. This is the first time I've done a french tip in a color other than white and I'm loving it! Stay tuned for another version of this next week! :)

Blaze Cotton Candy to Sugar Plum

Cotton Candy to Sugar Plum is a shade from Blaze that changes color in the sun! Blaze has a ton of awesome shades (over 50, actually!) that are all UV activated. In addition to their great selection of colors, they're also 3-free. Let's start with the Cotton Candy side of CCtSP first, shall we? Inside, CCtSP is a very delicate shade of frosty light pink. I used three coats for these photos and you can still see some VNL, but I don't really mind. I actually liked this one a lot more than I thought I would!

Now, here's the Sugar Plum side. Pretty, right? This would definitely be a fun shade for someone who wanted an interesting-but-not-obnoxious polish color. The formula was good on this bottle; I said before that I used three coats, but they dried pretty quickly and were easy to apply. Also, I thought it was great that the color change happens very quickly.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this brand. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, Blaze has an awesome selection of colors on their website (check it out here: http://blazenailpolish.com/) and they are reasonably priced considering you technically get two colors in one! 

*The product(s) in this post were sent to me for review.*

Zoya Posh

So do you guys know about how awesome Zoya is? They ran a promo on Halloween where you could get two polishes for free and just pay shipping. That ends up being about $3.50 per polish when you do the math, AKA it's a total steal. Thankfully, I was around all day and able to take advantage of this great deal. 

Posh was the polish that I knew I wanted from the start. Posh is a shimmery, matte red that needed two coats to be completely opaque. Please excuse the poor clean-up; I was in a bit of a rush. :#

Zoya's mattes are really neat because they come in a different bottle than their normal polishes; the bottle is frosted and has a rubberized cap. I didn't put a topcoat on Posh to see how it would look (since it's beautiful enough as it is, duh), but I did take a close-up shot for you :)

Like Zoya on Facebook to stay updated with their special promotions!

Dr.'s Remedy Special Holiday Pricing

There's only 5 more days to take advantage of this awesome deal! You can like/follow Dr.'s Remedy below to keep up with their deals and promotions!
http://twitter.com/#!/remedynails

https://www.facebook.com/Remedynails

Orly Here Comes Trouble

I shared this with you once as an accent nail, but I decided that it was cool enough to be a whole mani. :) This is Orly Here Comes Trouble and it is absolutely packed with hexagonal shaped glitter and super tiny micro-glitter. I used about three coats for what you see below; it's hard to tell exactly how many I did because some coats were thicker than others and some nails needed an extra coat where others didn't.  The only thing I wish I could change about Here Comes Trouble is the yellow-ish base; it looks gross around the edges of my nails. However, I found this on clearance at Sally's for $1.99. Can't pass that up!

Julep Gayle

Again, Julep! You did it again! Gayle is incredible! Absolutely perfect formula (two coats) and a beautiful color as well. I'm really impressed with the polishes I've ordered lately from Julep; I don't know if I got some duds in the beginning or what, but the formula has been exponentially better in the polishes I've ordered recently.

Julep describes Gayle as a "regal, deep aubergine." I'm not sure I'd go with deep aubergine, maybe deep berry? It's definitely vibrant. I topped it with a coat of Orly Fowl Play on my accent nails and wore this for a whopping three days (an eternity for manis in my life)! I had minor chipping on the corners of a few of my nails, but I'm sure that would be solved with a better base coat. Maybe if my order from Bloom would ever show up... anywayyyyy...

Dr.'s Remedy Holiday Hues Press Release

Dr.'s REMEDY HOLIDAY HUES: JOLLY & JOY Seasonal shades to enchant, inspire, ignite Holiday cheer is contagious: the spirit is infectious, the charm is encapsulating. It's so divine, in fact, that you wish you could "bottle it up" - savor it, treasure it. Luckily, your friends at Dr.'s REMEDY did just that this year with their holiday collection of hues: JOLLY & JOY. In the lineup, five shades that are rich, riveting, and radiant. And the best part: the colors are traditional in scope but not on scale; meaning red and green - yes, the docs have you covered. See for yourself in the best holiday collection yet:Dr.'s REMEDY JOLLY & JOY for holiday 2011. The holiday 2011 JOLLY & JOY collection of Enriched Nail Polish includes: REVIVE Ruby Red: A shimmer-infused, Wizard of Oz-inspired shade of crimson PASSION Purple: A bombshell-boysenberry with subtle silver meshed throughout ESSENTIAL Emerald: A take on the classic tree-and-plant-inspired gem of a shade, with delicate glimmer and unparalleled amounts of glamour SERENE Silver Glitter: A seasonal sizzler like no other: shine, chic, totally unique in the metallic scene RESOLUTION Red Glitter: A red-meets-copper spin that's sequin-look-alike laden with high-shine and sparkle Dr.'s REMEDY is offering the following special price on selected holiday shades. Purchase ESSENTIAL Emerald, RESOLUTION Red Glitter AND SERENE Silver Glitter for only $14 each while supplies last.  Also, free shipping on orders of $50 or more with code: HOLIDAY thru 11/18/11. Dr.'s REMEDY Enriched Nail Polish is available for $17 online atwww.remedynails.com. Dr.'s REMEDY is a line of doctor-inspired cosmetics that is dedicated to using clean, hypoallergenic ingredients. The birth-child of two New York-based podiatrists, Dr. Adam Cirlincione and Dr. William Spielfogel, Dr.'s REMEDY proves quintessentially-perfect for any person looking to better the condition of her skin and nails. Dr.'s REMEDY is sold exclusively at www.remedynails.com or by calling 877-323-NAIL.

Blue foil comparisions

Hey guys! I know I don't normally post on Tuesdays but I thought some of you would be interested in this and I didn't want to use up a day of actual nail posting for it. I got Zoya Noel from the Trick or Treat promo that Zoya did on Halloween and after I ordered it, I worried a little that it would be too similar to the Color Club foils that I have already.

Left to right (two coats of all): Color Club Luminicent, Zoya Noel, and Color Club Cold Metal. As you can see, Noel is a nice middle shade to the Color Clubs, although it seems to lean a little more teal/aquamarine than pure blue. It's totally justifiable to own even if you already have the Color Clubs. I love all three of these together; I think I see a mani for them in the future...

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

Lincoln Park After Dark was my very first OPI polish. :) It's a very, very dark purple (almost black). I loved wearing this when I was in high school because it was dark enough to get attention but it wasn't as drastic as wearing black. I needed two coats, but I noticed some streaks when the sun was shining directly on my nails. Not really a big deal unless you're really obsessive about it. This first photo is in bright, direct sunlight. 

This photo is in sunlight as well, but it's more diffused than the first. You can tell how dark LPAD is in both of these photos though; the first coat shows up as a rich purple/burgundy, then the second coat is just pure darkness. After my two coats were dry, I taped off my tips and used Essie Matte About You for the awesome contrast in finish that I love so much. I don't think I'm as crazy about this color as I used to be :/ Oh well!

Hard Candy Beetle

This polish is sooo cool! I love polishes with neat effects and the duo chrome effect in Beetle is awesome! These photos really do Beetle more justice than my description could, so I'm not going to say much, I'm just going to get right to the pictures! I used three coats of polish for all of these. This is the way Beetle typically looks...

... but every once in a while, you get an awesome shift to green. I've noticed that these shifts mostly happen in lower lighting situations, also.

There's some gold mixed in there too. Here's a bit of a close-up. I have a feeling this would look pretty good layered over black. That might eliminate the need for three coats too.

And here's your obligatory macro shot... because I know how much you guys love them! (Or just how much I do, whatever). :) So basically, run to Walmart and pick this beauty up!

Julep Michelle

Wowwwww! I am a huge fan of navy and this is one awesome navy polish! Julep Michelle is exactly what it looks like: a perfect dark navy creme. One of the best things about Michelle is that it won't appear black no matter what lighting you're under; it's always distinctly blue. This bottle also had a really great forumula; two thin coats were all I needed for the photo below.

Since Michelle is a creme, I knew I wanted to add something to it to make it a little more interested, so I stamped some flower images with two of the new Color Club foils: Lumin-icescent and Cold Metal. The Foiled collection is even better for stamping than I thought it was going to be! I'm so glad I bought them when I had the chance.

Zoya Feel Press Release!

FEEL Beautiful!

Every season the color experts at Zoya create dozens of new color collection options. This

year, one of those “secret collections” just had to be seen now rather than later. FEEL by Zoya

Nail Polish delivers six new, highly pigmented, full coverge neutrals for right now!

Zoya FEEL Collection

• Kristen (ZP591): Full coverage, gull gray cream
• Carey (ZP592): Full coverage, periwinkle gray cream
• Megan (ZP593): Full coverage, taupe gray cream
• Kendal (ZP594): Full coverage, rose quartz beige cream
• Kennedy (ZP595): Full coverage, pale french beige cream
• Avery (ZP596): Full coverage, blonde beige cream

Zoya is the new color of fashion...

Ultra long-wearing, glossy nail lacquers by Zoya are free of harmful industrial chemicals

like toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, resin, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known

to cause cancer and birth defects.

Find Zoya FEEL as well as over 300 other ultra high-fashion Zoya shades at

www.zoya.com. As always, each and every Zoya color is made for women so we

name them after women.

FEEL by Zoya

Sug. Retail $8.00 per 0.5 fl.oz. bottle (US)

www.zoya.com

Available November 15, 2011. 

What do you guys think? I'm really excited about this; I've been craving neutrals so much lately! Zoya always has the best collections!