Pumpkin Pie Nail Art (Mmm!)

These did not really turn out the way I had imaged in my head. I was really disappointed in them at first and wasn't going to post them, but I let the photos sit in my swatch folder for a while and decided that they aren't really all that bad, even if they didn't turn out like I had wanted.

I used one of my all-time favorite shades, Zoya Petra, as my base and then used a small brush to section off the piece slices with OPI Ginger Bells. The pie crusts were created with a dotting tool and Zoya Cho and topped off with a dollop of Zoya Purity, which I mixed around a bit with a dotting tool to give it some texture.

If any of you decide to try and re-create this mani, please let me know! I know that someone out there can take this idea and pull it off way better than I did. On a slightly related note, I really want some pumpkin pie...

KBShimmer Winter 2012 Collection Review/Swatches/Photos

You guys are in for a treat today because I have the new KBShimmer Winter collection to show you! I have yet to try a KBShimmer polish that I haven't been impressed with and these are certainly no exception. Just wait and see!

Candy Cane Crush is a festive mixture of red and white hex glitter in multiple sizes and get this: it smells like vanilla peppermint! You know those awesome Twisted Peppermint candles from Bath & Body Works? Imagine that in a polish! The scent gets kind of muddled with the nail polish smell in the bottle, but it's very nice and light when it dries on your nails. It does stick around, but it isn't something that will be giving you a headache!

In the above photo, I layered Candy Cane Crush over China Glaze Jolly Holly and below, I layered it over OPI Skull & Glossbones. Two coats were used for each swatch.

All Decked Out is such an awesome and unique polish! Multiple shades of hex glitters and gold star glitters are suspended a deep evergreen jelly base. If this doesn't make you think of Christmas trees, you must not be familiar with the tradition! Haha! :P I used two coats of this beauty here.

Snow Way is so pretty! This delicate shade of baby blue is filled with white glitter and teeny tiny little iridescent glitter that looks like sparkly fresh-fallen snow if you move your hands the right way. I don't think I captured it in this photo, but I was making a ring from it when I noticed the iridescent flash and it made me smile. I used three thin coats here, but two slightly thicker ones would have been sufficient.

Sugar Plum Faerie is amazing! I feel like a broken record but this is what KBShimmer does to me! Just when I think I've swatched the best in the collection, I try the next polish out and have to eat my words. I used three coats here for opacity since the base is jellyish.

Cocoa Nut is a gorgeous mixture of fuchsia and gold glitter in a chocolate brown base. Only two coats were needed here for full opacity.

Hex Appeal is a mixture of silver, blue, and magenta hex and micro bar glitter in a royal blue jelly base. I used three coats here to get maximum glitter payoff and opacity for the jelly base. I will probably layer this one next time I use it though.

Berry Christmas is similar in concept to Cocoa Nut, it has a berry colored base with red, pink, purple, and a little bit of gold glitter. I used two coats here. I'm not typically a huge fan of red, but I love this one!

We Three Blings is one of the most unique gold topper shades that I've come across. It has a mix of gold shimmer, flakes, and holographic glitter. I layered one coat here over Essie Very Structured.

Wrapper's Delight is the last shade in this collection and certainly one of the best. Perhaps the best part though, is that $5 from the purchase of every bottle will be used to buy toys which will be donated to Toys for Tots. This is the definition of a festive polish, with red, green, and gold glitter suspended in a clear base.

I layered two coats of Wrapper's Delight over Nicole by OPI Here We Kome A-Karoling in the above photo and over Rescue Beauty Lounge Bella below.

This collection will be available for purchase on November 15th on KBShimmer's website. They will retail at $8.75 with the exception of Wrapper's Delight, which will be $10. Are any of these going to make it on your wish list?

*Products in this post were provided for my honest review.*

Monthly Favorites: October!

Can you believe that it's November already!? October absolutely flew by for me!

Nails:
Nail art was HUGE for me this month and I really enjoyed getting back into it. I had a blast creating all the nail art that I used for my new blog header (look up!^^^) and this zombie design was really fun to make as well. I have some neat stuff planned for sometime in November too, so stay tuned! :)

I am in LOVE with these cuticle oils from 365 Days of Color! I bought the sampler of the cuticle oils and the miracle balms and they are both amazing. There are so many scents to choose from and they are lovely and not fake or overpowering at all. I would definitely recommend picking some of these up!!

Beauty:
I did a lot of a experimenting (for me) with my hair this month. I FINALLY taught myself how to french braid my own hair. I think this is actually considered a dutch braid since the hair goes under itself instead of over, but you get what I mean. My layers mess the braid up quite a bit at the end, but it works well enough to sleep on and get wavy hair in the morning.

Speaking of wavy hair, I taught myself how to curl my hair with my flat iron! It took a while to get it down and they didn't last very long, but I plan on prepping better next time and hopefully it'll work out.

Random:
I finally started cooking some actual meals this month and am SO EXCITED about it. Everything I've made so far has been totally delicious and pretty easy. The photo on the left below is of mini pumpkin pie crescent rolls and on the right is honey sesame chicken over rice. I made the chicken in the Crock Pot and it turned out awesome!

What were you excited about in October?

Happy Halloween! Feat. Stamping Plate from KKCenterHK

Happy Halloween everyone! I typically don't celebrate Halloween anymore, but who can resist a chance to do some cute nail art and sit around eating candy? Not me! I got this stamping plate from KKCenterHK during the summer since it had some unique seashell stamps on it, but it just so happens to have cute Halloween designs too.

I used Wet N Wild Black Creme for my black base and for the stamping on my ring nail. The orange is Sephora by OPI Paisley Attention to Me and the white is Konad stamping polish. This plate is nicely etched and stamped very well. You can view this plate and others here. What do you think? Have a happy (and safe) Halloween!

*Products in this post were provided for my honest review and the above photo was provided by KKCenterHK.*

Zombie Nails for Halloween!

Hello everyone! I hope all of you in the hurricane's path are staying safe and dry. My classes have already been cancelled for today and tomorrow, so we shall see what happens. I'm glad I don't have to leave the house though. Today, I have for you some zombie nails inspired by Sarah at Samarium's Swatches. I don't like mine quite as much as her's, but I'm still happy with how they turned out!

I started with a base of Essie Sand Tropez and painted/sponged with some dark purples, reds, and oranges. I covered that in two coats of a sheer pink; I wanted to use more of a nude shade, but I didn't have any. I will say that they do look much better in person rather than in these photos. They don't look quite as pink in person but I couldn't capture it properly.

I applied Esse Matte About You over the sheer pink before I started painting the blood using a dotting tool and striping brush. It took forever but I'm so happy with how it turned out. What do you think?

Contrary Polish Purple Smoke & Gilded Oak Swatches/Review

Hola! I really love the polishes I have to show you today and I'm excited to share them with you all. They are both from Contrary Polish and the first is called Purple Smoke.

Purple Smoke is a gorgeous gray shade with blue and purple shimmer. This kind of shimmer is my absolutely favorite polish finish. I needed two coats for opacity.

Gilded Oak has tons of gorgeous golden shimmer packed into an almost faded-looking rust shade. Contrary Polish sure knows how to pull off shimmer!

Here is a macro of Gilded Oak. I need two coats here for full opacity as well.

Contrary Polish can be purchased at Llarowe for $11. Which is your favorite? Do you own any others that you would recommend?

*Products in this post were provided by Llarowe for swatching purposes.*

Tough As Nails Swatches/Review/Photos

Hey all! I have some really cool indie swatches for you today. These polishes are from Tough As Nails and are so awesome! The first one I have to show you is called Go Sit on an Egg, which is a mix of yellow and orange glitter in a milky white base. I layered two coats here over white.

The Baconian Method is sold in a set with Go Sit on an Egg and is a mix of red, pink, brown, orange and black glitter. I layered it here over black.

I included a macro shot of The Baconian Method because of how neat it is. It has a lot of depth to it when layered over black. I love the concept behind these first two polishes!

Spacing Out is a gorgeous mixture of blue glitters in a black jelly base. This can be worn on its own, but I'm not very fond of jellies, so this is two coats over black.

Lastly, this is The Great Butter Rebellion. I layered two coats over a plain red creme. This is a very nice gold layering polish.

Tough As Nails offers two bottle sizes, full size for $9 and "shorty" size for $5.50. You can view and order Tough As Nails polishes on Etsy. Which is your favorite?

*Products in this post were provided for my honest review.*