Clouds In The Sky Nail Art

I'm terrible at coming up with names for posts like this one. And I'm also terrible at updating this blog. But I have a very nice manicure to show you today! If you're following me on Instagram, you'd have seen this one ages ago.

I did two coats of China Glaze Bahamian Escape and sponged on some clouds with Wet N Wild French White Creme and finished it with top coat. I took these photos on a cloudy day. What is that, irony?

Hopefully you can forgive me for being such a slacker! I've really just been doing nothing much and relaxing while I can. This is supposed to be my toughest year at university so hopefully I'll pull through while juggling this blog.

Have a great weekend! (:

Barry M Raspberry

Hello! I've been really lazy lately, I've mostly been waking up after noon and watching tv, and not doing much else, even though I'm pretty sure I have a ton of things to do. I even wrote down a to-do list, but I've pretty much abandoned it.

Anyway, I realise that I've been posting a lot of British brands lately, but that's probably because I'd uploaded them awhile ago and didn't get around to posting them. Do you see a trend here?

I did 2 coats of Barry M Raspberry with top coat. It would really look like a raspberry if it was a jelly, and maybe a bit lighter, but it's a creme and doesn't really remind me much of a raspberry.

 

Have a great weekend!

Color Combos CTW501 on Barry M Cobalt Blue

Hello! I've put off posting this because it's an Asian polish (hence the name) and I didn't know what the code/name was, and I kept forgetting to check. I was also hoping to get a bottle shot but no luck for that part yet. Maybe one day...

Color Combos CTW501 is full of iridescent hex and square glitter in a light pink jelly base with some very tiny pink shard glitter. You'll see what I mean in the macro shot. I did 1 coat over Barry M Cobalt Blue, with top coat.

I think the glitter reminds me of sprinkles, or candy, or something like that. I'm not sure whether my brain is functioning fully or not right now. I'm sure it has something to do with the huge slice of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream I had earlier.

Have a great weekend!

Barry M Cobalt Blue

Hi again! I think I've caught a cold, or some really bad allergies. It started out feeling like allergies but now it feels like a cold. At least it's not the flu!

I love Barry M's Nail Paints. Most of them (I can't say "all" because of one polish I had trouble with and haven't gone back to since) have really lovely formulas and cover nicely in two coats. Then again, I haven't tried any of their pastels so I don't know what those are like. And they're pretty affordable in the UK if I'm not mistaken.

Another quick post today because I need to go do my nails. I've been wearing the same polish for 4-5ish days, which is a bit long for me. I usually layer something over after the 2nd day. I feel like I've said this before.

This is two coats of Barry M Cobalt Blue with top coat. Again, good formula. I like their brush too. I don't think this photo is 100% colour accurate, but if you love blue, you'll probably love this.

Yeah, it isn't as dusty-looking in person as it appears in the photo. Imagine it brighter, more saturated.

I've been told that you can buy Barry M on their website, Harlow & Co., and NailPolishDirect.

Okay, I'm off. Hopefully the polish fumes will make my cold better. Ha.

17 Cosmetics Amaretto

Hi guys! I am still alive! Things have been a lot more busy than I was expecting them to be, and all I've wanted to do is laze around and do nothing. The 560 unread posts in my Google Reader is probably a good indication of how much has been going on. I sort of miss being busy though. I feel like such a bum when I do nothing all day.

I have a short post today, since I need to catch up on all my blog reading and things aren't about to slow down for me yet. I also just ripped my cuticle a bit last week so I'm waiting for that to recover.

This is 2 coats of 17 Cosmetics Amaretto with top coat. The formula was lovely. Don't mind the slightly bald spot on my index finger, I tend to be heavy-handed when I polish. I have quite a few shimmer polishes from 17 Cosmetics, and they don't disappoint. Always rich and sparkly.. In the right lighting.

I'm hoping to be able to post more often. I do have a ton of photos that need to be edited before they can be posted though, so hopefully I'll get around to that sometime.

Have a great week! (:

China Glaze Secret Peri-wink-le (take 2)

Hello! I'm super exhausted but still alive! I've posted this polish before, a long time ago, so don't look it up! Haha.

I think I'm running out of brain juice, so this post won't be too wordy. (yay?)

I did.. 3? coats. I think it was 3. I have no complaints about the formula. Not that I can remember anyway. Sorry the photo is a bit crap, I hadn't figured out that the flash on my camera was useable yet and I was still working out photo-taking spots!

I used this as underwear for another polish, but that will come much, much later. I don't think I'll have much time to post for a couple of weeks after this, as a lot of cramming is ahead of me. You know I'm dying to post a ton of photos though!

I'll be back! Or.. as Suzi would say.. Bach!

Color Club Coastal Creme (take 2)

Okay I know I said I was "back" and then disappeared for 3 weeks. I have been buried in lecture notes and study materials. I have way too many subjects this semester (five!).

My computer still has problems, so for the time being, I only have old-ish swatches. I have posted this colour before but I cringe at the post I made then (a million miles long and crappy photos) so I won't link it, but you can look under the Color Club label if you're interested (I hope you're not!).

I did 3 (or was it 4?) coats of Color Club Coastal Creme with top coat. Once again, application wasn't great but I love the colour. I also can't remember why I chose to wear a "work-safe" colour. It must've been important or something.

flash

I don't know why, but I am really into neutrals right now. I really want the entire OPI NYC Ballet collection! I don't think I have ever wanted an entire collection before for the colours (the Pirates of the Caribbean one doesn't count, I wanted those because they were PotC).

I'll go back to my studying now. I hope you guys are having more fun than I am!

Wowwow #57 over Models Own In The Navy

Omg I'm blogging again! I realised that I didn't blog for the whole of March except to write that one lousy picture-less desperate post. And I'm sorry. I'm just getting an education so that one day I can save all of your lives. This is what I say when I'm being an asshole while driving to school. Haha.

What better way to ease myself back into blogging with a picture-heavy post of a glitter polish? I'm trying out a new image host as per Crystal's suggestion. The only downside to this host is that every picture needs to be viewed at least once every 6 months, or it'll be deleted. Anyone want to volunteer to look through all my blog posts (from this one onwards) every 6 months? :/

Wowwow #57 (SO original) was something I picked up on holiday for really cheap (can't remember how much) and it definitely brought out a "wow" from me. Not two "wow"s like the brand name, just one. This is only because some of the glitter pieces kind of clump together. Not fun :/

I did 1 coat of Wowwow #57 over 2 coats of Models Own In The Navy. I don't recall how many layers of top coat I added but I don't think it was enough to hide the clumped bits. The glitter shifts colour too!

Whew! I hope you enjoyed that! I hope to blog a bit more now that I'm on a study break. Yeah, "study".. ;)  But no, really, I'll be studying. I have a huge haul post coming soon, if I can get around to it!

Where Have I Been?

Hi guys! I didn't mean for it to get this far but it seems I've been gone for a little over a month! I've been doing my nails as usual and taking photos if they look good but I haven't gotten round to editing most of them, much less organising everything and deciding what I should post.

I try (key word here) to keep my priorities in check, make sure what's at the top belongs there. Lately I've been putting university on top of most things, blogging included. Work has begun to pile up, my timetable seems to be getting more crammed each week and the tests just keep coming.

Then there's the recent reformat my computer had to go through because I got the blue screen of death (BSoD). Yup. I'm glad I got the computer fixed, because I suspect that all those times I left my computer on overnight only to discover it restarted itself were actually BSoDs. But since I didn't know how to check those, and didn't even suspect a BSoD until I actually witnessed one, I ignored it.

The bad news is that while I kept all my files in an external hard drive (so they're safe, phew!), I lost not only my photo editing software, but also other programs like iTunes and MS Office. MS Office I've reinstalled (not that it's really relevant to this blog), and iTunes too but I need to add all my music back in and recreate my playlists.

The important part is that I don't have a photo editing software at this moment and I'm way too busy to work through installing one.

On top of all that, I recently discovered that I have a limit as to how many photos I can upload for free on ImageShack. I already came across this problem on Flickr, but I didn't realise ImageShack had a cap too. I don't really trust Photobucket because I've read stories of the quality of photos on Photobucket being reduced, which is why I didn't want to use Blogger's hosting system in the first place.

I have 460ish photos on ImageShack already, which is way too close to the 500 photo limit. I'd prefer not to pay not because I can't afford it, but because I don't have a method of making the payment. I can pretty much pay only in cash or things I can buy with cash (neither of which I think is an acceptable method of payment with these sites).

If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix my image hosting issues, PLEASE leave a comment or send me an e-mail, I would really appreciate any help. If you know of a reliable, stable, free image hosting site with no limit to the number of uploads and no reduction in photo quality, please let me know. Or feel free to share how you host your images!

I wouldn't even mind doing a strange sort of "swap" or CP if you'd rather call it that, if anyone is willing to help me pay in exchange for the equivalent amount of whatever polish I can get you from where I live.

Wow, super wordy post. I must really miss blogging. Haha. I'll be back to blogging as soon as my schedule and the circumstances permit it but until then, if you want to contact me, I check my e-mail almost daily and I'm on Twitter a lot too. (:

Icing Frost Yourself on 17 Cosmetics Midnight Sapphire

Hi guys! I hope everyone is having a lovely week/day. Apparently it's Fat Tuesday? Well, not really Tuesday where I am anymore but what is Fat Tuesday? Am I allowed to eat anything and everything today? Because.. I do that everyday :D

Anyway, here's a nice glitter I got a long time ago from a swap with the lovely Kellie Gonzo. It's from Icing, and it's the only Icing polish I have. I wish I had their magnetic polishes though! I am currently wearing a mattified magnetic polish (try it!) and am still in that stage of awe.

I did 1 coat of Icing Frost Yourself over 17 Cosmetics Midnight Sapphire (a blue shimmer). There are 2 or 3 (not sure) sizes of silver holo glitter. The glitter lies completely flat (yay!), but I added a top coat anyway.

I love the blurry shots!

I'll be pretty busy for the rest of the week, because I have a test on Friday. I hate tests. I've also been really lazy, I haven't removed my polish in a week! I did layer a magnetic over my initial manicure and then mattify it, so that counts right?

PS: Happy belated birthday to Elizabeth and Katy! <3

OPI I Lily Love You on Barry M Red Black

Hi! Happy Valentine's Day/Singles Awareness Day! I hope you guys had a fun day with lots of chocolate! Mine wasn't exactly fun but at least chocolate was involved!

Okay over-enthusiastic paragraph aside, I didn't get to do a lovey heart shape-filled design because I was busy fighting Dementors. Which sounds way cooler than what I was actually doing, so I'll stick to that. Instead, here's something that at least has the word "love" in it.

I did 1 coat of OPI I Lily Love You over Barry M Red Black. And because I lily love all of you, I have a ton of photos.

Camera flash

Artificial lighting

I added China Glaze Matte Magic after a couple of days:

Artificial lighting

I lily love this polish! ;)

Wowwow #62

Sorry for the crappy title. I swear, Asian polish brands need to hire someone to name their polishes. Maybe I should start a company and other polish companies can hire me to come up with names.

Anyway, today I'm posting glitter because it's Kirsten's birthday! Although it's past 12am where I am, I'm from the future so it's still her birthday in her timezone! Happy birthday! <333 Remind me to send you instructions for care of my nail beds when you take them on weekends! ;)

I bought this glitter while I was on holiday, and it was quite cheap so I wasn't expecting much. It did turn out to be really pretty though! I used 1 coat of Wowwow #62 over a black creme. There's holo glitter and purple glitter in it.

I used two different cameras to take these photos, because one showed the holo glitter more and the other showed the purple glitter more.

I love glitter! Probably not as much as Kirsten does ;)

I deleted a whole bunch of photos today because they featured my super long nails which looked incredibly ugly. I can't believe I actually thought they looked good because they were long. I definitely prefer my nails short. Even if it means filing more often, remind me never to grow my nails that long ever again.

Everyone now needs to go and spam Kirsten's blog with birthday wishes! (:

China Glaze Pool Party

Hello! As promised, I dug through my giant backlog of photos to find some that were already edited/watermarked so I could write a post. I'm really sleepy so if anything I'm saying looks weird, don't mind me.

I did 3 coats of China Glaze Pool Party with top coat. It's my first neon, so I don't really know what the formula is supposed to be like but I felt like 2 coats weren't enough. It was fairly easy to put on and remove. No staining (phew!).

It's really pink in the bottle but dries a little more orange (you can see the difference in the last photo). Which is a shame, because I wanted something really neon pink, like a highlighter. 

I need more neons! I'm afraid to try yellow and green but other than that I think I'd like it! I need a red neon.

Neon is a funny word.

I hope you enjoyed that. I'm going to go read blogs until I fall asleep now. (:

Guess This Red Contest Winner & Answer!

Hi guys! I think you've been waiting a long, long time for this. I finally closed Day 10 of the contest and picked a winner!

I did this contest because I didn't want to have just any giveaway. There are tons of people who follow a blog just to get free stuff, and I'm not interested in having those people follow my blog. I also love puzzles/mystery-solving, so I thought maybe other people might enjoy that too.

I'm surprised at the different names of red polishes I got as answers. There were all sorts of brands, from China Glaze to Zoya and even Nails Inc! I only got one correct answer on Day 1, but as the days went on, more people seemed to get it. Surprisingly, I did get a wrong answer on Day 10, which was the easiest clue. Obviously that someone didn't do their research ;)

I'm glad to know that some of you had fun! I also loved reading all your suggestions and all the other stuff you wrote. Thanks for making me have as much fun sorting the entries as you guys did entering them! <3

Now comes the interesting part. The answer: Nubar Competition Red. Congratulations to everyone who got it right!

And the winner is.....

 

Congratulations Leona Carolina!

 Once again, thanks for entering! I'll be back to posting as usual within the next few days (: