Claire's Nail Stickers - LEOPARD

Today I have some nail stickers for you from Claire's. These retail for $7 on their website and in the store. Right now, they have a buy one, get one 50% off.
My husband and I were in Grove City, Pa. at the outlets and I saw these. I figured I'd get two packs and try them out. I picked up the Leopard print and the multi-glitter print.

Bling nail stickers - Left: Multi-glitter. Right: Leopard

There are 16 nail stickers in each package. They come in different sizes, although like most nail stickers or decals, some just don't fit no matter what.

I really liked this when I took them out of the package. They are much thicker than the Sally Hansen nail strips that I've come to really like.

Multi-colored leopard print

The leopard print was meant to act as an ombre effect. But since I have weirdly shaped fingers, I had to use them out of order to get the best fit. They don't have a ton of patterns, but the ones they do have are very cool. Most of the stickers also come with crystals already glued on the sticker.

Closeup of nail stickers

While these weren't horrible to apply, be forewarned...they only come with stickers. Meaning you need to have your own nail file ready to file off the excess. Here is where I dislike these stickers. With the crystals on, it's harder to file off the excess. So if there is a crystal at the very tip, it leaves an indentation. Plus you have to file alot to get the extra off.

Close up of nail sticker with top coat.

The package advises you to use a basecoat and a topcoat with these stickers. I did both. However, I found the topcoat doesn't really stick too well on these things. Whether it be the air trapped by the crystals or what, my topcoat actually peeled right off in some places.

Even with that I was still pretty satisfied with these ---- until I went about my daily life. Then the things started to stick up and peel like you wouldn't believe. 

Pretty, but not worth the money

I spent $7 on these and had them on all of three hours. I finally just peeled them all off. It was easy to take them off. Mostly because many of the edges had already started to stick up. I did use Chip Skip and Essie Rock Solid basecoat before putting them on.

I have one more pack to try, but I'll probably wait awhile. Honestly, I think the Sally Hansen strips are better for the money you pay. I've used both the fingernail and toenail strips and have had zero issues.

Before I go, I want to leave you with a picture of one of my most favorite puppies of all time. No, it's not Zeke or Brinlee. It's a puppy they share a lot of wall space with at our house - the University of Georgia mascot, Uga. I'm a huge fan and have over 12 framed pictures of him in my living room. Today, they named a new Uga. His name is Russ, and he's been the interim mascot after the deaths of the past two Ugas. Russ will now be known as Uga IX. 

Russ AKA my third-favorite dog in the world!

Hope you enjoyed today's post!

butter London - SHAG and GOBSMACKED

Today I have two of the new colors from butter London's 2012 Autumn/Winter Collection. Everyone knows how much I love butter London, and I'm love with these newest colors!
I picked up Shag, a high-shine, warm orange-burgandy metallic reminiscent of fall leaves, and Gobsmacked, a heavily pigmented charcoal grey glitter with a slightly textured finish.

When I first saw the new fall colors, I was impressed with all of them. They include two holographic glitter/metallic polishes in Trustafarian and Dodgy Barnett and a full-out multi-colored glitter in Lovely Jubbly.  But Shag really stuck out to me for some reason. I'm not usually a fan of any polish that considered to be orangy, but this one catches your eye!

butter London Shag

Shag is definitely a rust-colored polish. It looks good on warmer skin tones. It's part of the butter London metallic line, which is awesome. It follows the line of Big Smoke, Diamond Geezer and Knees Up.

Shag - 2012 Autumn/Winter Collection

Shag- two coats outdoors

This polish is super easy to apply. Like all of butter London's other metallics it goes on smoothly and doesn't leave those weird brush marks like some metallic polishes do. I used two coats over a base coat of Essie's Rock Solid and a topcoat of Seche Vite.  I had no shrinkage with Seche as a topcoat.

Shag up close. What a pretty fall color!

Shag retails for $14 a bottle at Ulta and Nordstroms. Both online sites also sell the line. You can also pick up  all of the lacquers at butter London's site.

This would also make a great toenail color for the end of summer!

The other polish I picked up was Gobsmacked. I will apologize for the quality of the pictures now. Apparently, the batteries in my camera were almost dead, so the pictures are a tad blurry. But you can still see how awesome this polish is.

Two coats of Gobsmacked

This polish is very different from any polish I have. First of all it's black....and it's glitter! What's not to love about that. This is also one the polishes that has microglitter, so it isn't too hard to take off, even with two coats.

butter London's Gobsmacked

I love this color. It may be in my top five of butter London colors of all time! It's got some grey metallic glitter mixed in, so it really pops in the light.

Black and glitter? Yes, please.

Both of these colors are going to get a lot of use during the fall season. If you've never tried butter London, let me tell you, it's worth the splurge. I have over 30 bottles and there is only one I'm not totally crazy about. And, that's because of my skin color. It may be $14 a bottle, but I have had zero issues with the polishes and they are long wearing.

And to start your weekend off right, I wanted to share a picture of Brinlee, aka the puppy version of Gabby Douglas, who amazes us with her skill on our wall, also known as our "balance beam."

Brinlee planning her dismount. I'm sure it's a 10. 

Have a great weekend!

Jackie

China Glaze - Pool Party

I've been obsessed with neons lately. I think in the past few weeks if I've seen a neon and it's a shade I didn't have, I bought it! I especially love the green and pink neons.

Today, I have a neon from the 2010 China Glaze Poolside collection. The bright neon pink, called Pool Party, is a part of their core collection now.

China Glaze Pool Party

Like most neons, Pool Party needs at least two coats. It can be tricky to apply, but I've found that if even you have some streakiness, it's easy to flatten it out with a second coat or a coat of top coat.

For this application, I used Essie's Rock Solid as a basecoat, two coats of Pool Party and a coat of Poshe topcoat.

China Glaze Pool Party in shade outdoors

This polish is a little deceiving in the fact that it looks way brighter in person than in pictures. It's definitely a neon and you can tell best outside or in incandescent light. It reminds me of a bright watermelon neon and it's very pretty.

China Glaze Pool Party in sunlight

I only used two coats of Pool Party, but three is probably ideal. I was in a hurry to get to work, so I didn't want to wait for the third coat to dry. You can see a little VNL on my middle finger, but it's not as noticeable on the others.

China Glaze Pool Party indoors

In the indoor shots, it does look a little orangey, but it's definitely not. The shade shot outdoors is probably the best representation of this color.

China Glaze Pool Party shade outdoors

It's definitely one of my favorite China Glaze neons. It's an interesting shade and it does draw a lot of attention. I would put this right up there in my top five neons. The watermelon color is pretty, but it doesn't scream out, "Look at me, I'm wearing neon polish!!"

China Glaze Pool Party indoors - no flash

Some of the other shades from this collection, including Sun Worshipper and Flip Flop Fantasy are easy to find at your local China Glaze retailer. In my case, Sally Beauty Supply. The others like Kiwi Cool-Ada and Towel Boy Toy are a little harder to find but can be bought at places online like Victoria's Nail Supply or amazon.com. 

Puppies and Pawlish gives Pool Party two paws up!! As always, here's a picture of Zeke to round out the post!

What? Mommy bought ANOTHER neon polish?

ORLY - Mermaid Tale

Today I have a polish from the Orly Flash Glam FX line. It's called Mermaid Tale. The actual line has 22 different polishes that are meant to be layered over other polishes, including Liquid Vinyl, which is Orly's creme black polish.

I picked up Mermaid Tale with my birthday coupon from Sally's. I only have a total of four Orly polishes in my stash, including two I picked up during their clearance sale.
But on to Mermaid Tale, which is a holographic glitter filled with little green and large green glitters.

Mermaid Tale from Orly

For my layering polish, I chose China Glaze's Deviantly Daring from their new Bohemian collection. It's a duochrome blue-green polish and I thought it would be great to layer Mermaid Tale over.

Left: Orly Mermaid Tale; Right: China Glaze Deviantly Daring

I used a base coat of Essie's Rock Solid, and one coat of Deviantly Daring. It's a great polish I hope to show you in another post. While most glitters can be tricky to apply, I have found Mermaid Tale is different. It's actually pretty smooth and easy to apply and only needed one coat of Poshe topcoat to smooth out.

Two coats of Mermaid Tale

I used two coats of Mermaid Tale to achieve total coverage results. One coat will suffice for those who don't want a lot of bling, but two will knock your socks off.

Mermaid Tale in the sun

The glitter in this is really pretty. It can be layered over several different colors to get different results. Orly suggests black, but I think a dark green, navy or even gold would be awesome colors to try it over. It's got a great consistency and it isn't lumpy or thick.

Closeup of back of the bottle in sunlight

Some people tend to shy away from glitter polish because it can be hard to remove. I've heard people say they only use one thin coat so that they don't have to scrub at the glitter to get it off. Ladies, it doesn't have to be this way!! When you get a glitter top coat this pretty, you should use two or three coats if that's what you like.

Mermaid Tale two coats with one coat of Poshe topcoat

Most of my polish lovers who are crazy over glitter polish know there is an easy solution to taking off a glitter this pretty. It starts with acetone, cotton balls and aluminum foil. YES, you heard me. If you want your glitter to slide right off all you need to do is put some acetone on a cotton ball and wrap your finger with said cotton ball in aluminum foil. 

Easy removal via the foil method

I usually cut my foil into 10 small strips. I soak the top of a cotton ball and then put it on my nail before wrapping it in the foil. Wait 2-4 minutes depending on how many coats of glitter you have on, then twist the foil and cotton ball right off. Voila! All or most of the glitter will come off. You may have a few specks here and there, but they are easy to remove with a free cotton ball because they have already been loosened by the acetone. 

Glitter top coats make boring polish bling!

Now that you know how easy it is to remove glitter polish, RUN out and get a few of the Orly Glam FX colors. They have some really great glitter topcoats, some with bar glitter and some with regular glitter, but all are very pretty!

I'm planning on picking up a couple more of these as soon as I get a chance. They are so easy to apply and the colors really bling, especially in the sunlight. Puppies and Pawlish give Mermaid Tale two paws up!

Before I go, remember the baseball game I was going to? Here's a pic my husband took of me in the outfield before the game. We had great seats right in front of third base, which is were my favorite player Brandon Inge plays for the A's. All of the Baltimore fans were awesome and we had a fantastic time because the A's won!!

Me rocking my Brandon Inge Oakland A's shirt!

Till next time!