China Glaze IDK

I'm slowly working on swatching the China Glaze OMG polishes that I managed to get a hold of, so today I have IDK for you guys. IDK is a light purple linear holographic polish. The same formula issues apply to this one as well as the rest of the collection sadly. It drags and creates bald spots no matter how long I wait in between coats. It doesn't last very long without chipping unless you topcoat-sandwich it, but it's just so gorgeous that I can almost excuse all those problems.

The top photo is with flash and this bottom photo is just under a daylight bulb. I'm always impressed at how holographic these are every time I wear one. I'm hoping China Glaze will realize how popular these were and bring them back eventually!

Spongebob Decals over RBL Square Pants

Good morning everyone! Today I have only the coolest nail decals in the history of the world to show you. I got these Spongebob Squarepants water slide decals to review from KKCenterHK. (Psssst! You can get 10% off your order at KKCenterHK if you use code nailnetwork). They have tons of different designs and I love that they are water slide decals instead of normal decals.

To apply a water slide decal, all you do is peel off the plastic cover, soak it in water for a few seconds, and then slide it off the paper and onto your nail. It also helps if your fingers are a little bit wet as well to help it slide better. See? They are super easy and they look fantastic!

I also happened to have the perfect polish to apply these decals over: Rescue Beauty Lounge Square Pants. I am one polish away from completing my RBL Spongebob collection (Starfish Patrick, you will be mine one day!) and I have to say, they are really awesome. I don't even mind that they are a bit sheer. I used three coats of Square Pants for this mani and you can see it swatched alone below.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Faraway Nearby

Faraway Nearby is the second (and last) color that I pre-ordered from the Georgia on My Mind collection. It's a beautiful sky blue with very faint green shimmer. I'm kinda of disappointed that the shimmer is so hidden to be honest; it really would be stunning if it stood out like the shimmer in Aqua Lily or Santa Fe Road does. I can't deny though that it is a beautiful color and definitely a shade that Rescue Beauty was missing.

You can see the green shimmer a bit better in the close up shot below. As I mentioned above, I participated in the pre-order for these colors, but I imagine they should be available to purchase for the general public very soon on www.rescuebeauty.com.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Santa Fe Road

Oooooh goodies! Today I have one of the polishes from the new RBL collection, Georgia on My Mind, called Santa Fe Road. This is a gorgeous faded light orange shade with gold/green changing shimmer. I didn't fall in love with this one until I went outside and saw all the shimmer in the sun. 

See what I mean? It's just stunning. One thing I need to note for you guys: if you don't have the special RBL base coat, you should definitely pick up some type of milky ridge-filling base coat to use under your RBLs (I use Essie Fill the Gap). I've found that these apply so much better over a smooth, milky base rather than a sticky one.

Deborah Lippman Mermaid's Dream & Zoya Wednesday

If I could stand to only have one manicure for the entire summer, this would be it. Seriously, I can't think of a more appropriate summer mani, especially for a trip to the beach! This is two coats of Zoya Wednesday on my index and pinky nails and two coats of Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream on my middle and ring nails. I've worn Wednesday many times, but this is the first for Mermaid's Dream. It has very good coverage, but does dry with a bit of a texture even after two coats of topcoat; it really didn't bother me at all though.

I also need to note that there is a bit of shimmer on my index finger and I'm not sure where it came from; I must have picked it up with my top coat brush and transferred it by accident. Wednesday is not actually shimmery!

And here's a quick Instagram shot for you! In case you didn't know, I finally joined Instagram last week and you can follow me @thenailnetwork :) Oh, and don't forget to enter my blog birthday giveaway!

Tropical Flower Mani

Happy Friday everyone! Today I have a re-do of an old mani that I did last summer. I started out with two coats of Essie Tart Deco, followed by L'Oreal Coral Starfish sponged on the tips. I stamped a flower design from MASH plate m26 in white and topped the look off with little yellow rhinestones in the center of each flower. I entered this design in a nail contest that Rite Aid held online and unfortunately didn't win :( I am still a big fan of the design though! What do you guys think?

Make sure to enter my 1st Blog Birthday event to win some gorgeous glitter polishes!

Windestine Swimming With the Sharks

Here is the lovely Swimming With the Sharks from Windestine that I mentioned yesterday. Swimming With the Sharks is a cool combination of aqua and blue glitter mixed with white diamonds and aqua squares. I used two coats and I have it layered here over China Glaze First Mate. It's so pretty... I seriously keep rolling the bottle around in my hand to watch all the glitter move ;P

Make sure to check out Windestine on Etsy and Facebook and I will leave you with a gorgeous bottle shot!

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Windestine Hydrangeas

You guys know I flipped for Windestine when I bought her Jeweled Sand polish back in May and I'm wowed again with two more colors, Hydrangeas and Swimming With the Sharks (which you'll see tomorrow. To see more beautiful polishes and be alerted to future shop restocks, check out Windestine on Etsy and Facebook!

Here I have one coat of Hydrangeas layered over Zoya Kennedy. This one reminds me a lot of Jeweled Sand, just with a different color combination. It has little tiny bronze glitters, slightly larger purples, and the largest are green. Obviously this polish reminds me of springtime and flowers, but I think that this might also be a suitable polish for Mardi Gras, amiright? :P

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Sonnetarium Lotta Zebra

Yay!! More Sonnetarium goodness! And I have good news: I got word from Michelle (the brains behind Sonnetarium polishes) that she will be opening up her Etsy shop around June 25th, so prepare your wallets/checkbooks/bank accounts!

Today I have Lotta Zebra for you; what you see is one coat layered over Essie Jam 'n' Jelly. I'm sure I don't have to tell you guys how awesome this is, but look at that coverage! Michelle makes the best glitter polishes ever! They apply perfectly and I never have an issue with glitter placement. I'm loving the contrast in this one and the different sizes of glitter!

Don't forget that you can enter for a chance to win some Sonnetarium polishes (and a Lynnderella!) in my 1st Blog Birthday Celebration giveaway! 

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

KBShimmer Swatch Spam: Part Two

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I have the last of my KBShimmer swatches (for now) to show you today. As in the last post, I used three coats of color and one coat of top coat for all the swatches here.

First up is Shipwreck, a gorgeous mix of large teal, green, blue, and purple glitter, as well as smaller copper glitter. I absolutely love this one!

Showgirl is made up of pink, silver, and black glitter in a black jelly base. 

The Square is comprised of mostly square glitter with some smaller blue glitter in a pinkish purple base.

Vegas Bomb is definitely one of the most unique polishes that I've encountered. Multitudes of differently sized and shaped glitter packed into a mustardy yellow base.

KBShimmer will be listing polishes for sale today. To keep updated with the shop opening, you can like KBShimmer on Facebook and browse the online store.

*Product(s) in this post were provided for swatching purposes. I have reviewed them with my honest opinions.*

KBShimmer Swatch Spam: Part One

Hey guys, I have some more KBShimmer swatches for you today! There will be more on Monday morning to round off the last of the ones I was sent. Unfortunately, I'm a slacker and waited until almost midnight last night to write this post, as I got home late, so I'm going to just do a quick recap of each color. The photos really speak for themselves anyway! :P Three coats of each with one coat of top coat, unless otherwise specified.

This is one coat Bejeweled over RBL Mismas.

The lovely Ice Queen. (It was funny that I received this one to review since my BF calls me Ice Queen sometimes when I'm really mean ;P)

Newsprint, an awesome and unique mix of black, white, and red glitter in a medium gray base.

My favorite of this bunch (shocker! it's turquoise!): Proud Peacock. Sooooo perfect.

Last but not least, Ring Master. A unique mix of black, white, red, and gold glitter in a red jelly base.

KBShimmer will be listing polishes for sale on Monday. As far as I know, there is not a set time, but Christy expects to have plenty of polish available for everyone. To keep updated with her, you can like KBShimmer on Facebook and browse her online store.

*Product(s) in this post were provided for swatching purposes. I have reviewed them with my honest opinions.*

KBShimmer The Neon Collection Swatches

Recently, I was lucky enough to be picked by Christy at KBShimmer to swatch some polishes for her shop! This was an incredibly cool opportunity and I'm so thankful that Christy chose me and sent so many of her beautiful creations to photograph! Since she will be opening shop this coming Monday, I thought I'd post some of the swatches for you all. These are five of the six colors from the new Neon Collection. The purple, Midsummer's Night, was swatched by my lovely friend at Love for Lacquer and can be seen here. I also need to mention that these photos are purposefully a bit on the dark side because the true color of the neon shows up better that way. In reality, they are very bright! Also, all photos show three coats of color with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

First up is Shattered Heart, a gorgeous hot pink neon with black bar, hex, and heart glitter! Neons with glitter are a totally new thing for me and this one is just so awesome. The formula was fantastic as well and I didn't have any issue getting the bigger glitters pieces out of the bottle.

Up next, in rainbow order, is Orange-A-Peel. This one is seriously packed with glitter! It has pink, white, and orange glitter in different sizes and shapes. Orange is really popular for nails right now and the glitter in Orange-A-Peel really takes it up a notch!

This is Glowstick, a glow-in-the-dark neon yellow with STAR GLITTER. Yes, that needed to be capitalized! The star glitter is pretty sparse and I did have to fish for one, but it really puts this polish over the edge. The formula on this, for being a neon yellow, was really fantastic and I'm totally loving the smaller glitter too.

Radioactive is another glow-in-the-dark polish, but this time it's a neon green with black glitter a la Shattered Heart, but with no hearts. I wasn't able to get any decent pics of this glowing in the dark, but take my word for it, it really does! I'm normally not a huge fan of green, but this one really rocks!

Lastly is my favorite from the neons that I tried, Watercolor. Watercolor is a stunning bright blue packed with purple, pink, teal, blue, and holographic glitter. This color combination is absolutely perfect and the formula was as well. It doesn't hurt that I'm a sucker for blue and purple! :P

KBShimmer will be listing polishes for sale on Monday. As far as I know, there is not a set time, but Christy expects to have plenty of polish available for everyone. To keep updated with her, you can like KBShimmer on Facebook and browse her online store.

*Product(s) in this post were provided for swatching purposes. I have reviewed them with my honest opinions.*

The Nail Network's 1st Birthday Celebration Event!

Good morning everyone! Today is a very exciting day: it's The Nail Network's first birthday! This time last year, I was just dipping my toes into the giant nail blogging pool. To celebrate, I will bestow three awesome prizes onto three lucky readers! Please read on to see what you could win! (Terms and conditions are located in the Rafflecopter widget).

Prize #1: A full size bottle of Lynnderella Connect the Dots and a mini bottle of Sonnetarium Snowfall (which isn't even being sold yet!) :D

Prize #2: A full size bottle of Sonnetarium Snowfall and mini bottle of Candeo Colors Orchid

Prize #3: One custom piece of jewelry made just for you by me! You can see examples in my Etsy store: www.etsy.com/shop/thenailnetwork

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Rock N' Roar

Hello everybody! Today I have another set of nail appliques for you, this time from the brand Sally Hansen. They are releasing a set of nail polish strips to coincide with the release of the movie "Rock of Ages." The design I have to show you is called Rock N' Roar, a metallic silver and gold design with leopard print.

These are the best nail strips that I've tried as far as the overall finished look. They are thin and stretchy, so you can pretty much match them up perfectly for each nail size. However, they are really sticky, so you need to make sure you line it up perfectly on the first shot! I messed up a little on my ring finger and you can tell that it's a little wrinkly near the tip. Once applied correctly however, they are super smooth and just like polish. These wear great and the Rock N' Roar design is seriously fierce! Salon Effects retail for $9.99 and can be purchased at most major drugstores.

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Dermelect Persuasive and Above It

Have any of you ever used any products from Dermelect? I have their Rejuvenail nail and cuticle cream and I use it all the time. When I found out that they also had a new line of nail polish, I knew that I needed to try it. The new line, called ME, consists of six polishes that are actually good for your nails. The colors are enhanced with peptides, which helps to strengthen your nails and prevent chips, peels, and splits. These polishes retail for $14 and can be purchased here.

The first color that I have to show you is called Persuasive. Dermelect describes this as a "luscious peach," but it leans more pink on me, which is nice because I don't own many light pinks like this. The formula was a little thick, but it covered really well. This is two coats here with top coat.

And here is Above It, "a breathtaking sky blue." It's a smidge less bright than my photo shows, but it is definitely breathtaking! I'm a huge fan of blue and this one is just amazing. Same formula consistency here: a little thick, but it was good to go in two coats. I used top coat to smooth these out a little bit since they were thick, but they did dry really shiny on their own! What do you think? Will you be trying any of these?

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

OPI Pure Lacquer Nail Apps in Metallic Waves

These are new and exciting! You're looking at the new full nail stickers from OPI, called Pure Lacquer Nail Apps. This design is called Metallic Waves. OPI is releasing a ton of really cool designs for these, all of which you can see at http://www.opi.com/.

 

These are some of the easiest and prettiest nail stickers that I've ever tried. They were super easy to apply and totally comfortable to wear. They are pretty thin so they bend nicely to fit onto your nails. The Nail Apps are actually made out of nail polish, so you remove them with regular nail polish remover. I would definitely recommend them! And below you can see the other design I received, called Girly Glam.

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

China Glaze DV8

I'm sure almost all of you reading this know how gorgeous and hard to get the China Glaze OMG collection is, so it should be no surprise to you that it took me ages to track down the bunch that I have. Unfortunately, they are a bit of a pain to wear; they chip quickly and top coat dulls the holo effect. For that reason, you have to "sandwich" these colors (base coat, color, topcoat, color) in order for them to last more than a day. I rarely ever wear them because of that, but I thought it was about time for me to swatch and post about them here.

This is DV8, a stunning linear teal holo. The formula is just okay; I had some dragging with the first coat, but it evened out with two. These holographic polishes are pretty hard to come by now, but you might get lucky and find someone who is willing to swap one!

Born Pretty Steel Ball Nail Art

Good morning! Here is yet another trend that I am behind on, the "caviar" mani. Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to call it that, but whatever. How about the microbead mani? Alliteration FTW! Okay so today I have a couple microbead manis to show you using some steel nail art balls that I received from the Born Pretty Store to review. I got twelve different colors and they all arrived in their own little container. The containers are closed really tight and everything arrived safely with there was no spillage.

I decided to use my two favorite colors for the review, so I started looking through my stash for a purple and a turquoise polish to match. For the purple, I chose RBL Mismas and the lighter shade of purple microbeads. Mismas is amazing. I had some base coat-related formula issues with my RBLs, but I bought a bottle of Essie ridge-filling base coat and used it this time and it was incredible. Mismas applied so smooth and easy. Anyway, after two coats of polish, I dipped my ring finger nail into the little container of beads. I didn't get total coverage, but I like that some of the polish is still peeking through.

I decided to use Essie Turquoise & Caicos with the turquoise beads. This was my second attempt, so I was able to get better coverage when I dipped my nail in the beads. I actually really like this look. It's not convenient for every day wear, but it would work great for a fancy one-night mani.

This steel ball set retails for $5.41 and you can purchase them here. Don't forget that you can use the coupon code over there in the right sidebar, ZR5X31 for 5% off your order!

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Lush Lacquer Birthday Cake

Mmmm, I am loving all these food-inspired polishes lately! So far I've shown you plenty of treats, like s'mores and mint chocolate chip ice cream, and today I have Birthday Cake from Lush Lacquer for you! Lush Lacquer polishes can be purchased on Etsy.

Birthday Cake is made up of multi-colored hex and bar glitters in a vanilla frosting-esque base. It was a little thick, but it covered perfectly in two coats and I had zero issues with glitter placement. How would you like a yummy macro of this one? I thought you might...

*Product(s) in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Adorable Watermelon Pedi!

Warning: feet ahead! I debated posting this because I know that feet creep some people out and honestly, I'm not a huge fan of my feet anyway, but I decided that 1) it was too cute not to share and 2) it's my blog so I should be able to post my feet if I want! :P

I used Essie Watermelon as my base color and Essie Absolutely Shore, China Glaze Holly-Day, Zoya Purity, and a black striping polish to create the watermelon design on my big toes. They are seriously too cute... I smile every time I catch a glimpse of them!   

Nicole by OPI "Sophisti-cuties" Mini Set

Good morning all! I hope everyone had a great weekend! Today I have the second Kardashian Kolors mini set for you, called "Sophisti-cuties."

First up is My Empire... My Rules, a nice, smoky brownish gray. I never thought in a million years that I would like colors like this, but I really do! This was three coats, no formula issues.

Follow Me on Glitter is soooo pretty! This is one coat over My Empire... My Rules. It's mostly made up of silvery/gunmetal glitter with larger multi-colored glitter pieces mixed it. It covers really well and doesn't dry all that gritty either.

Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam is my favorite of these four. The name is idiotic, but I love the color, a gorgeous deep teal/emerald. I did two easy coats here. 

Lastly is my least favorite, Hard-Kourt Fashionista. This is a temperamental brown shade that needed three coats to be opaque and non-streaky. As far as browns go, this one isn't actually all that bad to me, but I'm still not a huge fan.

The "Sophisti-cuties" mini set will be available in July 2012 and will retail for $10 at stores such as Duane Reade, H-E-Butt, Fred Meyer, Meijer, Rite Aid, Sears and ULTA. 

*Product(s) in this post were provided for an honest review.*