A Frog in My Throat

Nothing to Disclose

Rumor has it that there is another Muppets movie out recently. While I did this a few months ago for a 31-day challenge (the theme for the day was 'green'), I figured this would be perfect to post on my blog instead of just my Instagram. This was a super quick and simple design that you instantly recognize, right? For some reason it makes me want to sing Rainbow Connection. lol

I'll be honest, it's been a while, and I only remember what color I used for the base color of Kermit–I'll list it below. :)

I used:

Green base: China Glaze Budding Romance

Basecoat: Sephora Formula X base coat

Topcoat: Seche Vite top coat

Are you going to watch the new Muppets Most Wanted movie? What do you think of my Kermit interpretation? Tell me in the comments below, I'd love to hear from the lovers, the dreamers, and you!

Morgan Taylor Glam Rock Swatches & Review

Press Sample

My first introduction to Morgan Taylor was this past summer at Cosmoprof, and man, what a color selection! Today's post is a review of their Winter 2014 collection–Glam Rock. These are colors fit for a punk rock princess; silver, black, duochrome, it has a little everything for the chic girl on the go! Most of the colors are pretty pigmented, and the ones that aren't build very nicely!

Check out my photos and review after the jump!

Morgan Taylor Polished Up Punk

Rich navy blue creme

Rich and pigmented, this polish was a dream to apply! As you can see by my index finger, This polish pretty darn opaque, and I didn't have any staining like I have in the past with blues like this. 

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Morgan Taylor Pretty Wild

Purple-toned greige

Another pigmented one, this polish is a chic take on neutral! The more cremes from this brand I try, the more impressed I am. This color makes me think of a snuggly cashmere sweater for some reason. 

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Morgan Taylor Little Misfit

Lavender to Green Duochrome

OK, so this one is sheer. Really sheer. However, it builds to a beautiful pearly color that I have to admit that I was expecting to like so much. I really like this color! Look at that bottle shot, he duochrome is pretty, right?

Opacity scale (1-5): 1.5

Finish: Duochrome, 3-4 coats to be opaque

Morgan Taylor Rebel With a Cause

Deep berry with red and purple shimmer

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you already know that red/wine/pink polishes aren't really my bag. I like them on others, just not on me. While this color falls in that category it's actually a pretty cool color. The purple and red shimmer sets it off and makes it something different (and better) than just your average berry-colored polish. 

Opacity scale (1-5): 3

Finish: Shimmer, 2 coats to be opaque

Morgan Taylor Studs and Stilettos

Black jelly base with silver glitter

This one was fairly sheer too, but built really nicely. Shown is 3 coats but I very likely could have gotten away with 2. Very Glam Rock! Looks like granite from a distance.

Opacity scale (1-5): 1.5

Finish: Glitter, 2-3 coats to be opaque

Morgan Taylor Better in Leather

Black with large and smell silver hex glitter

I like this one. I like the feel of a jelly without the visible nail line, and I feel like you get that with this polish! Kinda rad, right? Makes me think of a jelly sandwich manicure. The best part? Only two coats to be opaque. 

Opacity scale (1-5): 2

Finish: Glitter, 2 coats to be opaque


So what do you think? Is Glam Rock music to your...nails? Tell me in the comments below!

Morgan Taylor products are (to my knowledge) currently only available to professionals at CosmoProf and other professional only stores. If that changes, I'll let you know!

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided for review by the manufacturer. See the legal page disclosure for more information.

Luck of the Not So Irish?

Nothing to DisclosePress Sample

Happy belated St Patrick's Day! I posted this manicure on my Instagram (Are you following me yet?! :-P) yesterday and, as promised, I'm posting them here on the blog! I know that I've been horrid about posting lately, but I'm working very hard to get stuff posted and collections swatched for you!! :-D

So about the nails, I usually hate stuff affixed to my nails, but I knew that the gold studs from the Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art stud set would be perfect for gold coins left by a mischievous little leprechaun on my nail! I actually like the ring finger nail a lot, and since the studs are so close together, I won't pick them off like I usually do. I used a bunch of polishes for this manicure, so see below for the details!

You can sort of see the beautiful shift of Ninja Polish Shillelagh best in the second photo; from one angle it is a beautiful emerald, and from another it's a golden green, and sometimes I feel like I can even see a rusty orange. I love it!

Side note: These pictures were unfortunately taken after a shift at work, so there is some slight tip wear...oops!

I used:

Thumb: 

Green: Sephora by OPI I Come in Peas

Green/Gold Shimmer: Ninja Polish Shillelagh

Index:

White: Milani White on the Spot

Red: Zoya Tamsen

Orange: Butter LONDON Silly Billy

Yellow: Wet 'n' Wild Get Lucky

Green: Sephora by OPI I Come in Peas

Blue: Essie Butler Please

Purple: Seche Nails Clever & Confident 

Middle: 

China Glaze Mingle With Kringle

Ring Finger:

Green: Sephora by OPI I Come in Peas

Studs: Sally Hansen I ♥ Nail Art Studs set

Pinky: 

Green/Gold Shimmer: Ninja Polish Shillelagh

Basecoat: Sephora Formula X base coat

Topcoat: Seche Vite top coat


What did you do for your St Patrick's Day Manicure? Tell me in the comments below! 

Disclosure: Some products in this post were provided for review by the manufacturer. However, many of them were purchased by me. See the legal page disclosure for more information. 

ZOYA Magical Pixie Dust Swatches & Review

Press Sample

If I had to guess what kind of nail polish Disney princesses and fairies wore, the Zoya Magical Pixie Dust collection would most definitely be it. I'm not sure the polish fairies at Zoya Headquarters could have packed any more glittery goodness in these three polishes! I really like the mixture of texture, holographic hexagonal glitter, and smaller holographic and regular glitter. It's kinda like a stripper exploded on my nails, but you know, in a good way.


See the swatches and review after the jump!

Zoya Cosmo

Silver textured glitter

A disco queen's dream! This polish packs a serious silver punch, and is by far my favorite of the trio! It's gorgeous, and I can't help but stare at it. 

Opacity scale (1-5): 3.5

Finish: Texture, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Vega

Icy blue textured glitter

This is the perfect polish for this frigid, icy winter that we've been having! The pale blue glitter is reminiscent of frost sparkling on windowpanes, and unfortunately...the INSIDE of my car windows. :-D

Opacity scale (1-5): 3.5

Finish: Texture, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Lux

Pink textured glitter

A princess polish if I ever saw one! Pink, sparkly and feminine! This was the sheerest of the three, and I could see the tiniest hint of a nail line after two coats.

Opacity scale (1-5): 3.25

Finish: Texture, 2-3 coats to be opaque


Application and removal on all three of these polishes was trouble free! Allow time for the polish to dry between coats, and skip the base coat and (of course) top coat! :)



What do you think? Do these polishes bring out the sparkle junkie in you? Tell me in the comments below! :)


Zoya nail polishes, as always, are free of formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, and camphor and can be purchased at zoya.com and Ulta and Ulta.com for $9. 

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided for review by the manufacturer. See the legal page disclosure for more information.

Zoya Naturel Swatches and Review

 Press Sample

Everyone loves a good neutral polish and I'll admit, I'm a total sucker for them! After the jump, Check out my swatches and review of the Naturel collection from Zoya!! It's a pretty collection that I feel will look great on a number of skin tones and with all different styles. Application on every one of these was a dream, not a streak in sight, and these were all creamy and pigmented!

Hit the jump for more!

Zoya Chantal

Pale peachy nude

A warm, creamy nude perfect as a palette cleanser or office manicure! Works great on pale ladies like myself. 

Opacity scale (1-5): 3.5

Finish: Creme, 2-3 coats to be opaque

Zoya Taylor

Medium beigey nude

Another great creamy, nude neutral with more of a beige tone to it. Kind of like foundation for your nails!

Opacity scale (1-5): 3.5

Finish: Creme, 2-3 coats to be opaque

Zoya Rue

Medium Rosy nude

A soft, rosy blush of color for your nails. Great for any any woman, it reminds me of a sexy silk chemise!

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Brigitte

Medium mauve neutral

A bit darker than Rue, and with more of a blue undertone, this shade is a sensual twist on pink.

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Normani

Medium mushroom taupe

A lovely cool taupe that is über chic and reminds me of a cozy cashmere sweater and it is PERFECT for winter! I love this shade.

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque

Zoya Odette

Dusty Orchid

I generally don't wear many polishes in the purple family, but this is such a great toned-down shade that is really great for the chilly weather we've been having here in the midwest. 

Opacity scale (1-5): 4

Finish: Creme, 2 coats to be opaque



This collection is a lovely toned-down neutral collection that really fits so well with winter! The colors in the collection make it absolutely foolproof to create an ombre manicure, too! (In fact, it was the first thing I did when I tried mine out! :-D ) I got a ton of compliments on it, and wore it for over a week, which is rare for me! 

As you can see from the index finger swatches, which are only one coat, these polishes applied with no effort, were smooth, not streaky, and were a dream. Love.

What do you think? Are these polishes on your winter wish list? Tell me in the comments below!

Zoya nail polishes, as always, are free of formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, and camphor and can be purchased at zoya.com and Ulta and Ulta.com for $9. 

Disclosure: Products in this post were provided for review by the manufacturer. See the legal page disclosure for more information.

All Wrapped Up

PurchasedPress Sample

So good news for Dexter fans without Showtime...Season 8 is on NETFLIX! :D I'm surper stoked, and trying to pace myself so I don't devour the entire season in a single day. (I watched seasons 1-4 in a week, all while working full time, I have a problem.)

Aaaaaanyway. I actually did this nail design back in July when the show was on TV, but never posted it. I know, I suck. I based this off of a Season 8 promo image I saw, where Dexter's image is made up of blood spatter. On the remaining nails, I did blood splatters over a white background. Red is the worst color to do splatter nail art with, it's so hard to remove all the pink residue that remains from the pigments. I'm fairly pleased with how this turned out, the face isn't super obvious at first glance, which I like. :)

I used:

White: Chrome Girl Between the Sheets
Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y
Dark Red: China Glaze Adventure Red-y mixed with American Apparel Hassid

One of more of the items used in this post were provided by the manufacturer for review, the remainder of the items used were purchased by the author.

SNOWMEN!

Tutorial for these nails is on Urban Outfitters instagram!