Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Farewell to 'Polish? Oh, My...'

Hello Everyone,

This will be my last post on this blog, I have a new blog that's Luxe Beauty Forever. I wanted to expand my repetoire and post more than just nail polish swatches. I also want to become more known in the beauty blogger world and take it to a more serious level than I have in the past. I hope you all will continue to follow me on my new journey!

As far as my blog sale/swap goes that still remains. The list, however, will not be on my new blog. I will keep it in handy in case anyone else is interested. Please review the list as I will delete this account this weekend.

♥ Cheers,
Bridget

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lime Crime 'Milky Ways' & butter London 'Chancer'

Usually, white or cream polishes have difficult formulas (meaning they're streaky, don't cover well and need many coats to cover the nail). I absolutely LOVE Rescue Beauty Lounge's 'Bella' as it's a jelly-cream hybrid with a slighly off white hue. You can literally get away with 2 coats or 3 for full opacity. That polish can be purchased here for $20.00. And, yes, I will tell you it's worth the price! Well, I found a polish that's more on the cream side that has an effortless formula that only requires 2 coats. Behold Lime Crime 'Milky Ways'...

Lime Crime 'Milky Ways'
Lime Crime 'Milky Ways'
Are you drooling? I will say it's less yellow and more cream with a hint of peach (very subtle).
Lime Crime 'Milky Ways'
Lime Crime 'Milky Ways'

My Miniature Australian Shepherd Puppy 'Cody' & Lime Crime 'Milky Ways'
My Miniature Australian Shepherd Puppy 'Cody' & Lime Crime 'Milky Ways'

Like how I snuck in the puppy shot? ^_^ Of course, I couldn't leave my nails alone so I added butter London 'Chancer' to my accent nails (2 coats). This polish has a sheer red base with very fine red glitter that covers perfectly in just 2 coats.

Lime Crime 'Milky Ways' & butter London 'Chancer'
Lime Crime 'Milky Ways' & butter London 'Chancer'

Lime Crime 'Milky Ways' & butter London 'Chancer'
Lime Crime 'Milky Ways' & butter London 'Chancer'

Below, I've compared Rescue Beauty Lounge 'Bella Donna' ($20), Lime Crime 'Milky Ways' ($5.99), and Illamasqua 'Monogamous' ($14).
Rescue Beauty Lounge 'Bella Donna', Lime Crime 'Milky Ways', & Illamasqua 'Monogamous'
L-R: Rescue Beauty Lounge 'Bella Donna', Lime Crime 'Milky Ways', & Illamasqua 'Monogamous'
So, do you guys have a favorite 'white/cream' shade? If so, please share! Until next time...

Cheers,
Bridget

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

MABB Weekly Beauty Question ♥

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Each Wednesday, the Metro Atlanta Beauty Bloggers will answer a beauty-related question just for fun! This week's question

is...

How do you feel about polish trends like nail art, crackle, "fish egg" manis, etc?

We all know that fads come and go; these nail polish 'trends' are no exception. I have to say for the most part I enjoy these trends. Here's a list of some trends or effects we've seen and what I think of them:
  • Crackle nail polish - I thought this was super cool and one of the easiest ways to conceal a mani I accidentally messed up. What an easy way to add 'nail art' I thought! Ha, I bought tons of them and now they take up nearly an entire drawer in my helmer (can be purchased here for $39.99 from Ikea, I swear they made these for nail polish and fit about 400 polishes). What a waste! Please don't ask me how much I spent on them, I know there's some that are brand new and unused as well. I won't dare list them on my blog sale/swap because we all know crackle is as dead as a herringbone gold necklace! I really don't see it coming back...
  •  Gradient effect - As far as I'm concerned this is here to stay! If you're not sure what this looks like check out Sammy's blog 'The Nailasaurus' here, she gives the best picture by picture tutorial as well that you can view here. It's basically a near flawless gradient of colors that you create using a make up sponge. Coolest thing ever, my favorite color combination I've seen to date was done by Sarah at 'Chalkboard Nails' where she did a take on a french manicure with a white and nude gradient effect that you can see here! It's so easy to do and looks stunning!
  •  Crescent moon or "reverse french" nails - I love love this look, especially when it's done correctly. This look should be very subtle. An example of how classic and simple this look can be found here. I absolutely adore this look and think it's here to stay!
  •  Bead, caviar, or fish egg nails - Can I just say BARF!? First of all, this is something that should be used for cool photo shoots for high fashion magazines... not for everyday wear. I'm not going to get into the whole controversy with the brand Ciaté because I honestly don't care. However, if you like this look you can buy these little beads at any craft store for cheap. I didn't like it then and I certainly don't like it now. If you're not sure what it looks like or would like to know the drama, the lovely Jeanette from 'The Swatchaholic' did a post you can see here.
  • Cloud mani - This is still pretty cool even though I think it's starting to 'die off' a bit, but basically this manicure is made to look like a cloud effect that can be made by using just the brush your polish came with. There's a great tutorial and example of this 'cloud' look here on the Nailside blog. Haha, oddly I've yet to try this even though I still like it!
  • Magnetic nail polish - When this polish first came out I didn't really find it that interesting. I'm still not a huge fan of this effect (maybe because the colors seem boring?) but have to admit Sarah from 'Chalkboard Nails' did an interesting take on this look that you can see here. Notice this post is from December 2011. So, yeah I think all the drug store brands are a bit late just coming out with their collections. lol!

Of course, there are other trends that are continuing to come out. These are some that hit me and thought would be fun to share with you guys! Until next time!

Cheers,
Bridget
- - - - - * - - - - -

Be sure to check out the other Metro Atlanta Beauty Bloggers' answers!

Artia from Fat 'nd Fierce 
Emma from Manicurity
Harri from TrailerHood Chic
Mandy from MandysSecrets
Missy from Gnarly Gnails
Pam from Pammy Blogs Beauty
Quinn from Mama Fashionista
SiSi from SiSi Sparkles

If you would like to see previous questions and answers, you can do so by viewing the Question Archive here.

If you're a beauty blogger in the Metro Atlanta area and would like to join us, please visit our website! We would love to connect with you!

Monday, September 10, 2012

butter London 'All Hail The Queen'

On behalf of ULTA's *today (9/10/12) only* BOGO butter London sale I had to wear butter London's 'All Hail The Queen'. I'd describe this color as a medium taupe with a scattered holographic effect. I used two coats and 1 coat of CND's Air Dry topcoat. This color (& 'Yummy Mummy') is a staple in everyone's collection. I'm really glad it's starting to cool off outside so I can wear these lovely muted shades! Now for the photos...
butter London 'All Hail The Queen'
butter London 'All Hail The Queen'

butter London 'All Hail The Queen'
butter London 'All Hail The Queen'

butter London 'All Hail The Queen'
butter London 'All Hail The Queen'
I hope a lot of you guys were able to pick up some of these polishes, I've always been fond of their unique shades and formulas. These guy's cost $14 a bottle and are definitely worth the money. You can purchase their polishes directly from their website here or at ULTA here. There are some unique exclusive shades that you can purchase from their website (ex. Macy's exclusives shades). So, I love meeee some buttterrr's! How about you guys? Until next time....

Cheers,
Bridget

Friday, September 7, 2012

Barry M. MADNESS!!!

I've been very pleased with every Barry M. polish I've used to date and have continued to request this brand for all of the the British polish swaps! Here, I have 3 different Barry M. polishes that I've used in one mani that I received from the lovely Vanessa from Nail Stories! I started off with 2 coats of Barry M. 'Mint Green' and 'Cyan Blue' here...

Barry M. 'Mint Green' & 'Cyan Blue'
Barry M. 'Mint Green' & 'Cyan Blue'

Barry M. 'Mint Green' & 'Cyan Blue'
Barry M. 'Mint Green' & 'Cyan Blue'

Barry M. 'Mint Green' & 'Cyan Blue'
Barry M. 'Mint Green' & 'Cyan Blue'
Then I decided I just couldn't wait to use Barry M's 'Croc Effects' in black! Now, typically these 'crackle' polishes require that you let the previous polish you've used to dry. Well, not Croc Effects! Haha, I didn't read the directions on the side of the bottle. This is what Croc Effects looks like if you let the polish dry (well, mostly dry). It appears mostly black and the effect is very fine. If you google this effect polish you can see the cracks are usually more defined. I had posted this photo on InstaGram (@bmwmchick) and everyone said how cool they think it looked (however, I removed it... lol). Here's how it came out...

Barry M. 'Mint Green', 'Cyan Blue', & Croc Effects in Black
Barry M. 'Mint Green', 'Cyan Blue', & Croc Effects in Black

So, what do you guys think? These polishes can be found readily in the UK or from Harlow & Co. here from $6.50 - $8.00 USD. I highly recommend this brand as the formulas are amazing and the colors are very pigmented! Until next time...

Cheers,
Bridget