Nail-A-Holic

Update.

2011-09-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

So, I have been very absent from the blogging world for the past couple of months, but it has not been by choice.
At the beginning of August, I was moving to my new home for school when I was side swept by an 18-wheeler. I had 3 broken ribs, as well as a broken wrist and leg. Thankfully, those are the only injuries I sustained. However, my entire life was packed into that little car, along with all of the polishes. I made it, the polishes did not.
I was in the hospital for about 3 weeks, and am getting better and better with each day, but because I have no polishes, I have nothing to swatch. I will still be reading and commenting on other blogs, but I am not sure when, or even if, I will return to blogging my actual self.
Very sorry for the absence, but I will still be reading all of your blogs!

Thank-you :)

Revlon - Lilac Pastelle

2011-07-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hey fellow bloggers!

How has everyone been? It's been a while, hasn't it? My bad! I keep saying I'll be posting regularly, but summer has me so preoccupied. I did drop in to show you a soft shade I really enjoy for the summer. Lilac Pastelle is exactly what the name says, a light lilac colour in the creme-y pastel form. :)

The formula on this was okay, but I've come to expect "meh" formulas when it comes to Revlon. I just can't resist their colours!

3 coats is what you see, and it was tricky to finally get even, but I love this colour. I prefer it on short nails, but I'm still diggin' it here, too!

In the sun:

And in the shade:

Beauty! What do you guys think? I know I have used this colour on some of my friends for their nails, and it didn't suit their skin tones AT ALL. I'm the kind of person that still wears colours even if they look horrible, though!

Have a good long weekend, everyone! :)

OPI - Mermaid's Tears.

2011-07-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

Ahhh! Again, sorry for my absence! I've been extremely busy, and this past weekend I went on a reunion trip with my floor from school. It was amazing! I miss everyone so much already.

Today I have OPI Mermaid's Tears from the POTC collection. I am still very much on the fence about this polish. It is a murky green polish, that had great formula. However, this isn't a very "me" colour. I have nothing like this in my collection, and I only own about 2 greens which I bought just to wear for St. Patty's day.

Nonetheless, it is a very beautiful colour. I used two coats for full coverage.

Excuse the poor shape my cuticles are in. I took this the same day as Planks A Lot, so I have the same awful looking hands. :(

That's all I have for today! This week I will hopefully be back to regular swatching.
What do you guys think? Is Mermaid's Tears a hit for you? Or a miss like it was for me?

Thanks, guys! :)

OPI - Big Hair... Big Nails

2011-07-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow bloggers!

Sorry I have been absent for a couple days, I've been so busy! Today I have one of my very favourite colours for summer. OPI's Big Hair.. Big Nails from the Texas Collection. When I first saw the Texas Collection, only a couple colours stood out to me. Big Hair.. Big Nails was one of them. At first, I was really lemming towards Guy Meet Gal-veston, but when I saw them both together, I realized BHBN was more of the colour I was going for. (However, they are VERY similar). This colour did not disappoint. A jelly, coral polish? YES PLEASE. It looks so squishy and juicy and I love it!

The picture you see is from 2 and a half days wear. I experienced minor tip wear. Nothing I can't handle. I'm still wearing it now, and am only taking it off when I get major chips.

This is four coats you see, and there is still a little VNL, but I don't mind. This colour is a red based coral, which is my favourites. OPI calls these "sorbet-like". No, they are just jellies. I adore jellies and these are true jellies.
What do you guys think? Are you jelly fans like myself?
Have a great night, polishers!

Planks A Lot Mani with Crackle!

2011-07-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Good.. evening? Early morning? It's about 2am here, and I can't sleep. So, I decided to blog, of course!

Yesterday I showed you guys Planks A Lot from the POTC collection. I wore this mani last week, and by about the fourth day I have minor tipwear. To hide it, I added a coat of La Rose Crackle is Magenta. I'd never heard of La Rose before, but when I went into a nail salon, they had it, and it was only four bucks so I figured "Why not?"

I really liked how it looked over the purple. I'm actually wearing this combo on my tootsies right now!
That's all for now. Just a quick post :)
Have you guys tried La Rosa Crackle Shatter's? What do you think? Do you like the colour combo? Any other suggestions I should try out?

Have a wonderful..sleep? Hahah!
Happy Polishing!

OPI - Planks A Lot

2011-07-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Today I have a polish from the POTC collection that I'm sure EVERYONE is sick of, but I have yet to feature on my blog, so hang in there with me :)

Planks A Lot is a dusty purple creme that had great formula. Application was good, and I got full coverage in two coats. Beautiful colour. Am I the only one who doesn't like the OPI Pro-Wide brushes? I have small nails, and they are just too big and I don't get a good handle on them. I very much prefer Essie's, but only because they are smaller.

Anyway, onto the swatch!

Excuse my awful cuticles and everything. Yuck, Ialmost didn't even show you this because they look so awful, but this picture really captures the colour well, and I know purples are notoriously difficult to photograph.
I only picked up one more colour, Mermaid's Tears, from the collection, but I think I want Skulls & Glossbones. We will see!

What do you guys think? Did you guys try out any of the colours? Which one's were your favourite?

Canada Day Mani's!

2011-07-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day my fellow Canadians :)

First, just a note about my giveaway. There was only about 4 people who entered, so I have decided to hold off until I reach about 50 followers maybe? BUT for those who did enter, you all get TWO extra entries for when I do hold a giveaway. I will also be adding other goodies. I do apologize for it :(

But, on a brighter note, I have two Canada day mani's to show you! After I publish this, I will be getting ready to head out in my red and white.

The first mani is a sponge mani that I did very quickly last night because I didn't think I would have enough time today. I used L'Oreals, Apple of my Eye and Wet n' Wile White French Creme. It was so easy! I liked the way it turned out, but it could have been better.

This is the mani I will be wearing today! :) I'm very happy with how it turned out. I actually never wear red, and the only reason I own this red is because it was on sale for a dollar! Again, I used Apple of my Eye, and French White Creme. For my ring finger I just cut a piece of tape and placed in down the middle over the white. I painted over the white with AOME, and then used Art Deco glitter. Topped everything off with my (very dying) bottle of Seche. :)
This picture also makes it look like I have string or something over my nails, but I don't! :( Oh well, I'm pleased nonetheless!

What do you guys think? Did you do any Canada Day mani's? Or for my American followers, do you have any 4th of July mani's prepared?

Have a great day :)

Wet n' Wild - Night Prowl

2011-06-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

How was everyone's Monday? Not too dreadful, I hope! Today I have a drugstore polish for you guys, Night Prowl. This polish is actually amazing for a drugstore find. It is a sheer black polish packed with loads of purple/magenta glitter. I know that sheers are never easy to build up, but this was actually totally opaque within 3 coats. I can see myself wearing this colour a lot for the winter time. I adore it!

The pictures you see were taken indoors with artificial light (I swatched this when we were having our dark dreary weeks.. which seemed to have lasted a month!)

See all that glitter! LOVE.

I have to say, I am very impressed with this polish. I love WnW polishes because they do have some pretty colours, and they are very easy on my bank account!
Have you guys tried Night Prowl? Any other WnW polishes you love?

Have a great night, guys :)

NOX Twilight - Citrus

2011-06-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Evening. :)

I'm back from the Falls and had such a great time! I can't wait to go to school there in the fall.

Tonight I'm showing you one of the Twilight polishes from NOX. I've actually never seen/read any of the Twilights and never got into the craze, but when I saw this polish on sale for a dollar, I figured "why not?" Citrus is a pinky-orange polish with flecks of gold glitter that really shimmer in the sun. I really wanted to like this polish, but it's just not my style and I've never worn it as a full mani, so I'm not sure how great of wear it is.

What you see in the pictures is 3 coats to get it opaque. Formula was pretty decent.
That's it for tonight! Did you guys scoop up any of the other Twilight polishes? What do you think of them?

Happy Polishing!

American Apparel - Malibu Green

2011-06-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

Another dark, dreary day. Boo. So, to make me feel a bit better, I have been indulging in the new show, The Glee Project. Have you guys seen it? I'm a huge Gleek, and this show is not disappointing me. There's one girl on it that I can see winning (Lindsay), and I can really see her playing a character who tries to become the new queen B and knock Quinn Fabray off her high horse and really give her a run for her money! (Like I said, total Gleek).

Anyway, today I have another AA polish (in case you can't tell, I really love them, ha!). This one is Malibu Green, a bright, vivid green-y turquoise cream that stains your fingers really bad! My fault for not putting a base coat on, tsk tsk.

I got full coverage in 2 coats, and no problems with the formula, but then again I never do!

Are you guys sold on this polish? It's not one of my favourites from AA, but I still like it. Plus, I have a shirt that matches this exact colour!

Also, I'm going away to Niagara Falls for a couple days, so I won't have any new posts, but I will when I return! Have a great couple of days. :)

Essie - Turquoise & Caicos

2011-06-21T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Wow! It's been a while since I've been able to post some actual swatches. I finally got a computer cord for my laptop, but unfortunately broke my camera :( SO I had to order a new one of those, and it is on it's way, so those POTC swatches will be up soon as promised (hopefully!)

Tonight I have a lemming I had for the longest time, Turquoise & Caicos! It is from the Resort Collection from last year, I believe and I finally got this polish when I went to South Carolina on vacation. I'm kicking myself in the butt now though for not picking up Splash of Grenadine :( I really want that polish.

My formula was a little sheer, and took 3 coats for full coverage. A robin's egg blue that just screams "summer!" to me. :)

Excuse the fluff on my finger.. clearly didn't notice that when taking the pictures!

What do you guys think? How is everyone?! I need some catching up to do!
Have a great night :)

Revlon - Craving Coral

2011-06-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Morning everyone!

Today I am going to share one of my summer favourites. I've gone through countless bottles of this. Revlon's Craving Coral.
I own a lot of Revlon polishes, but I always complain about the formula. Then of course I always end up buying more because they really do have some great colours and they are fairly cheap.

Craving Coral is a orange-y red coral creme that looks fantastic with a tan. I love how vibrant it is! This is 3 coats. I always, always, always get bald spots when I use Revlon. So frustrating!

In the first picture, the colour really freaked out my camera, but it is the most accurate. Check out how bright this beauty is! Love it.

This picture muted the colour a little bit, it is much more vivid.

What do you think? Are you sold on the corals? Any other favourite Revlons?
Have a great day! :)

American Apparel - Dynasty

2011-06-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I had the best day; bought lots of new polishes and then sat in the water for the rest of the day (with a slight burn.. oops).

Tonight I have a polish I swatched a while ago, American Apparel Dynasty. It is a dusty mauve with a great application (as is with all AA polishes).
In the light it looks a lot different than the shade, which you will see in the pictures.

See how purple it looks?

This is more of the true colour. Such a lovely colour!
I really want to try some of the neon AA polishes, they look so fab.

Have you guys tried any of the neons recently?

Have a great night :)

Essie - Bachelorette Bash

2011-06-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Morning!

On this dreary, grey day I have a bright pink pick-me-up. It is from Essie's new drugstore line. Not to say that it is much different from their regular salon line... The only difference being the name on the top of the cap now (which I don't really like) and one side has a sticker with "Essie" written on it.

The formula was great, as is with most Essie's I own. Bachelorette Bash is a bright fuchsia creme. It took 2 coats to get opaque and was pretty shiny without a top coat. I love this colour on my toes, too! Excuse the terrible state my nails are in, and the shade on my pinky. Oops!

2 coats; natural light

Essie is by far one of my favourite brands out there.
What are your favourite brands?

Have an awesome day!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Plum Luck

2011-06-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Afternoon, everyone!

It's another extremely hot day, as it has been all week, but it's not one of those hot and sunny days- it's overcast and humid. Yuck.
Today I have a Complete Salon Manicure polish for you from Sally Hansen called Plum Luck. I'll admit, in the winter I wear a lot of dark colours. I always feel odd wearing bright colours in the winter time, so because of this I have a lot of dark purples.

Plum Luck is such a nice purple! One of my favourites. It's a nice dark purple creme that covers in 2 coats. Drying time was decent.

I really do like the CSM line. They have trendy shades, and I haven't had any problems with the formula. The only thing I would complain about is the brush, but it's nothing that I can't handle.

What are some of your favourite shades from CSM line?

Happy polishing!

Milani - Rad Purple

2011-06-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

Good evening! :)
Tonight I have the only Milani I own - Rad Purple. I have seen some blogger's have mixed reviews on this one and I still think I'm on the fence.
It is suppose to be a neon, but I wouldn't describe it as that. I do really love the colour, but I had a hard time evening it out. I kept getting bald spots. However, when the formula wanted to behave, it looked lovely. A deep purple jelly that dries to a satin-y finish.
It is nice and shiny when I applied my Seche to it.

I took a picture with and without top coat to show you each finish.


3 coats; natural light; no topcoat


3 coats; natural light; top coat

I hate how Milani neon's have opaque bottles, especially when the colour is far from matching the actual colour of the polish! Still lovely, regardless.

What are your favourite neon's from Milani? Enjoy the rest of your night :)

Rebecca Likes Nails 500 Follower Giveaway!

2011-06-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

This is such a cool giveaway because not only does she have a coral polish (EEEEP!!), but she also made a franken of her own! And it is so pretty :)
Her giveaway ends on June 18th, so hurry your buns over there an enter!

You can enter her giveaway right here :):)

What are you still doing here? ENTERRR !!

Confetti - First Kiss

2011-05-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon :)

Today it is extreeemely hot outside, and inside my house because we have yet to put in our air conditioner. Not complaining too much though because I have been waiting allll winter for this weather to finally arrive!

Today I have a Confetti polish to show you. I went on vacation to Myrtle Beach about a month ago, and found some great polishes that we don't have in Canada (as far as I know) and Confetti was one of them! And they were super cheap, which I liked even better.

I only grabbed one, and I am regretting not grabbing anymore! First kiss is a true bubble-gum pink polish with blue undertones. Application was okay, it took three coats to even everything out, but the wear on it was impressive for the price. I had this on for about a week and a half before it began to get any real chips.

Outdoors; natural sunlight; 3 coats

I will be wearing this a lot through out the summer. It is a very common colour, but I really think it's the perfect pink polish for summer.

Do you guys have any favourite Confetti polishes?

Enjoy the rest of your day :)

OPI - Do You Think I'm Tex-Y?

2011-05-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! :)

Today I have a polish from OPI's Texas Collection that was out this year. I'm sure you all have seen the shades, but this was one of my favourite colours. OPI tried fooling everyone with their new "sorbets" BUT we all know that that just means jelly. Not that I mind because I love jelly polishes!

Do You Think I'm Tex-Y is a dark pink, leaning towards purple jelly. It took around 4 coats to get rid of VNL, but the formula was fantastic, as is with most OPI polishes.

Outdoors, natural sunlight

The top picture is the most accurate of the two, I think. It was hard to capture the exact colour!

What were your favourite's from the Texas collection?
Happy Polishing! :)

OPI - Meet Me on the Star Ferry

2011-05-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!
Today I have a long time lemming I fulfilled last summer.. Meet Me on the Star Ferry! It's from OPI's Hong Kong collection. I'm not really sure why I was even wanting it because I'm not usually into frosty polishes. But this beauty.. it won me over. It was also sold out for the longest time everywhere around me.
I think the pink-gold foil combo fits everyone's skin tone. I love it!

In the pictures is two coats with a layer of Seche to top it all off.


Oooh, sparklies!

I know this collection is from so long, but do you have any favourites?
Happy polishing!

American Apparel - Peacock

2011-05-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

I figured for my first actually polish post I would show
you one of my all time favourite colours - American Apparel Peacock!
This blue is so luscious and creamy. It's always a one-coater for me, and the formula is always so great.
I'm actually going to have to buy a back-up of it soon because it's running out!

This is one coat, with top coat and natural sun light. Another thing to love about this polish? This is almost a week. WITH NO TIP WEAR! Flawless.

What are your favourite AA polishes? Do you love Peacock as much as I do?
Have a great, sunny day :)

Hi!

2011-05-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome!
This is my first nail polish blog, and I'm so excited. I've been an avid blog follower for almost 2 years now, and with my collection growing by the minute, I figured why not just start my own!

I won't be swatching new colours every time they come out, just what my funds allow. I will also be reviewing some of my previous favourites, too!

Enjoy,
Vanessa :)