Christmas Skittles!

Good morning, and happy Thursday! Today I have some Christmas nails to show you. I am super excited for Christmas this year - partly because I'm actually excited for Christmas, and a little bit because I just want to be done with the semester. It's wrapping up! I only have one final, two projects and two papers left, and I'll be done it a week. So excited. Anyway, here's my Christmas nail art skittles mani:

Thumb & ring finger: Pure Ice Kiss Me Here with two coats of Lac Attack Holidays in Hogsmeade
Index finger: Two coats of China Glaze White Cap, topped with two coats of China Glaze Snow Globe, topped with two-ish (I say this because there was some finagling involved to get enough glitter on) coats of OPI Lights of Emerald City. (Not looking forward to removing this.)
Middle finger: Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe with gold circles in Zoya Ziv.
Pinkie finger: Zoya Rekha with snow in Cult Nails Tempest

Whew! That was a long list of polishes. I started this mani not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, but I really like how it turned out. This was the first time I tried Lac Attack Holidays in Hogsmeade, despite having bought it almost a year ago - I just felt weird about wearing it in January. I really like it, though, especially the stripey large red hex glitters. So cute.

It's supposed to snow here in St. Louis today, tomorrow, and Sunday. I really hope we get some accumulation, and I might just have to do another wintry/Christmas mani to get in the mood. :) Have a great day!

Dandy Nails: Chilled Down

It's December! Wait, how did that happen? If you're like me, you've been enjoying the opportunity to wear sweaters and scarves and boots and layers, and that's only going to continue into the winter months. Fall is my favorite season, but I love winter, too, and it's time to get chilled down - so today, I'm showing off Chilled Down, a Dandy Nails polish. (See what I did there? Eh? Punny.) I used three coats here.

I actually wore this way back in August, but I can definitely see myself pulling it out again now that colder weather is here. I love how unique this polish is, and the blue and gold color scheme is definitely a plus. In some ways, it's similar to Lac Attack Beauxbatons Academy, which was the very first indie polish I showcased here on Never Unpolished. Beauxbatons Academy is still one of my favorite polishes, and I think Chilled Down may be making its way up the ranks as well.

On a slightly different note, now that it's officially December and thus (in my mind) the appropriate time to start doing Christmasy stuff, I can't wait to get started on some holiday manicures. Any suggestions?

Green & Gold Sponging

Hello again! As you're reading this, I'm about to move back into my apartment for the fall semester. I'm writing this on August 11, so hopefully I will have packed by the time this is published, but you never know...I am a pretty good (bad?) procrastinator, particularly when it comes to things like packing, which you just have to undo again later. The nail art I'm blogging about today is a little something I did back in late July. I used Zoya Neely as a base, Zoya Josie, Sally Hansen Green with Envy, and another green (the darkest bits) that is escaping my memory right now for the green sponging, and added a little bit of China Glaze Blonde Bombshell for some sparkle. On a side note, Blonde Bombshell is pretty much the best gold glitter ever, and you should get it now. But anyway, back to the sponging ---

I was very happy with how this turned out. The green sponging is subtle, but pretty, and the gold glitter adds an extra bit of oomph that makes the whole thing pull together. I thought after completing the manicure that it was more of a spring-y sort of nail art, but, ehh, who cares? I say wear whatever you want all year round, whether it's your clothes or you nail polish. Though I do tend to be a bit more versatile with polish, since it's not affected by the whole weather thing. ;)

P.S. The background for my pictures is a page of Mental Floss magazine, which is my favorite magazine ever in the entire world ever. I was reading it at work on lunch break, which is when I took these pictures.

Zoya Destiny

Can we spend a moment admiring how gorgeous Zoya Destiny is?

Lavender Mint

Hey there! Today I have a mani that's been sitting in my "Nails" folder for way too long. It's actually from late October last year, and while I had almost started to think I should just not post it, I'm working on the Zoya summer collection right now, and since it's going to take me a little while to get through, I thought it'd be good to post something in the meantime. However, just because it's been sitting on my hard drive for several months doesn't mean I didn't like it - I honestly don't know why I haven't posted it before now. I used Icing Mint 2 Be for the mint green and Zoya Malia with Sephora by OPI Only Gold for Me for the accent nails.

outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

I realize that Malia isn't a lavender, but when I was thinking of what to name this post, I thought of Paul Mitchell's line of lavender mint hair products (they smell wonderful, of course - what of theirs doesn't?) and decided it was about as interesting a title as I was going to come up with. I need to start doing accent nails more often again, I think...I haven't done any lately, and it's one of the easiest ways I can think of to give your nails a little more pizzazz.

Now I have a question for you all - would you rather have me split Zoya Beach and Surf into two parts, or four? I kind of like doing it in four because I feel like I can devote a little more description to each polish and because I can post more often that way, but I've done Zoya collections in two posts before, and I can certainly do it again if that's what you prefer. Please leave a comment telling me if you'd rather have two posts, four, or if you don't care either way. Thanks!

Sponging with Skylar

Good morning! I took my last midterm this morning, and I think they all went pretty well, so now I'm ready for spring break! Unfortunately, that means I have to pack first, but...I'll do that later. Today I have a manicure from early February. I did this after I wore Zoya Skylar, a gorgeous blue that I didn't want to take off when I started getting tipwear. The solution? Sponging. I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Bronze Ablaze, Orly Luxe, and a regular kitchen sponge that I keep specifically for nail art.

sunlight

indoors, natural light

I was really happy with this - I think it looked particularly nice because of the depth I got from using two colors that are sort of different tints of the same color. I'm not sure if that makes any sense the way I worded it, but to clarify, I think you'd get a similar effect using, say, a dark purple and a light purple over another color. Plus, the great thing about sponging is that it looks fabulous, is very easy, and can be used as a mani refresher for when you don't have time (or the heart) to redo your whole manicure. I'm also thinking that I should try using sponging as a base for some other nail art, but I'm not sure what I'll do yet...like I said, though, it's spring break now, so I'll have plenty of time to think about it!

Mardi Gras Nails

Happy Mardi Gras! It's a day of indulgence, and while I haven't been indulging myself too much today, I did give my nails a special Mardi Gras manicure this past weekend. I wasn't even really planning on doing Mardi Gras nails until I thought of this and decided it was too good to resist. Who could resist having their nails dripping with gold?

indoors, artificial light

For this manicure, I used Zoya Veruschka on most of my nails, Zoya Savita on the ring fingers, and Orly Luxe for the dripping gold. Though my left pinkie nail was a bit of a mess-up, as you can see, I was really happy with the way the rest of them turned out. In fact, I actually got a "that's really cool" from a straight male, so perhaps that's one way to define manicure success. I meant to add top coat and see how it looked after some wear, but after a couple of days one whole nail peeled off before I had time to do so. I have to say, though, I was impressed with how long it stayed on! I'm really going to have to try to use drip nail art more often.

Again, have a great Mardi Gras - and let me know if you're doing a Mardi Gras manicure!

Day 31: Re-create Your Favorite Challenge

Hello, and happy December! Today is not only the first day of a brand new month, but the last day of the 31 day challenge for me and the other bloggers that did it this month. While I enjoyed the challenge, I have to say that I'm glad to have the stress of having to change my nails every day relieved, especially with my first college finals coming up sooner than seems quite possible. Anyway, I had several ideas as to what I might do for today...and all of them flew out the window when I got a swap package today that I'd been expecting. It contained NYX Gilded Glitter, which I've been lemming for ages, so of course I had to use it! I decided to recreate day 17, because that was glitter day. I used one coat of Gilded Glitter over three luscious coats of Revlon Royal.

 artificial light

artificial light

*sigh* I'm so thrilled with this. I can't wait to use it in a plethora of new layering combinations that have now been opened up to me - and with the challenge over, I can do whatever strikes me whenever it strikes me! I'm excited to try China Glaze Eye Candy, too - I just don't know when I'll have the time! Hopefully sometime this weekend...

Don't forget to check out the last challenge day on the other blogs!

Aly Loves Lacquer
Manicure Addict
Dees Polish Endeavours
Bright Lights, Big Color
Life and Polish

Sinful Colors This Is It

I can't remember how I got Sinful Colors This Is It...it was an extra in a swap, or a giveaway, or something...honestly, I have no clue. It's sat in my untried box for quite a long time because I just didn't like it much in the bottle, but I was having one of those swatch-whatever-you-pull-out-without-looking sessions this past Saturday, and one of the colors I pulled out was This Is It. It's sort of a warm yellow-gold, which I think I would like a lot more if it were a creme or glass-flecked finish instead of a shimmer. This was three coats, and as you can see, it's still semi-sheer.

 outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

Looking back at the pictures, it's not so much that I don't like the color as that I don't like it on me. It does have little bits of purple, blue, and green microglitter, but they're only noticeable in real life if you're reeeeeally looking, and I don't think you can see them at all in the pictures. Not my cup of tea, so I'm putting it up for swap on MUA - if you're interested, my username is neverunpolished. What do you think - is this it for you? (Yeah, yeah . . . I go for the puns whenever I can.)

Summer Layering

EDIT: I forgot to mention that Adamo 117 is one of the awesome polishes I got in Greece. Whoops!

For today's mani, I really wanted to use Adamo 117, a orange jelly packed with glass flecks that flash orange and gold. I plan on trying it on its own at some point, but I wanted to go to bed before midnight last night, so layering was necessary. I slapped on OPI A Good Man-darin is Hard to Find, which is my favorite orange creme, then added one coat of Adamo 117, one coat of Nubar 2010, one coat of 117, two more of 2010, and one final coat of 117. The results? HOT.

outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

outdoors, shade

As I told my mom, this mani accurately reflects August weather here in Missouri, but I much prefer this gorgeous layering to the heat and humidity. Even as I'm typing this post, I keep stopping to stare at my nails. Pitiful, I know - but they're so pretty! I bet something similar would look great with pink, as well . . . I may have to try that, too. In the meantime, I'll just admire the juicy deliciousness I have on at the moment.

Don't forget to enter my Zoya Smoke & Mirrors giveaway - it ends Thursday!

China Glaze Tarnished Gold

Hello there! When I got home from Greece Sunday, I had the pleasant surprise of finding a package from China Glaze containing Oxidized Aqua and Tarnished Gold, two of their metallic crackles. The funny bit about this is that I had actually stopped at a Sally Beauty Supply store on the way home from the airport hoping to find Tarnished Gold, but they were sold out - which was a good thing, as it turns out! I decided to combine today's Pink Wednesday with my review of Tarnished Gold, so I used it over two coats of Essie Exotic Liras.

 outdoors, sunlight

outdoors, shade

I never wear Exotic Liras much on its own, but I think it looks great with Tarnished Gold, don't you? I prefer this color of gold to that of the Sally Hansen gold crackle, as this one's a bit darker, warmer, and richer. Application was a breeze and it cracked quite nicely, as you can see. I'll definitely be using this a ton in the future, and, yep - it's going to college with me. There was a bit of wear because I didn't add top coat, but the bits that wore off were actually Exotic Liras and not Tarnished Gold. If you don't have this one and you're not sick of crackle yet (I know some are), I'd definitely recommend getting your hands on this one.

Tarnished Gold was provided to me for review by the company's PR, but this did not affect my review. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Fawkes the Phoenix

I know I told you I was going to show you the nail art I did over Green with Envy today...but then I changed my mind. With the last Harry Potter movie coming up, I've been re-reading the books like mad, so of course I had to do a correlating manicure. I've been making a list of ideas as I've read the books, and one that I couldn't wait to try was a Fawkes manicure. If you don't know who Fawkes is, well, Google "Fawkes the phoenix," and also, really?! Anyway, I knew that painting a non-cartoon bird on my nails would be pretty much hopeless, so I just did a feather on each nail. I used one coat of Wet n Wild Black Creme for the base (over base coat, naturally), then my red Nubar nail art pen, OPI Red My Fortune Cookie, China Glaze White Cap, and Nubar 2010 (sparingly) for the feathers.

 indoors, artificial light

 outdoors, sunlight

 outdoors, shade

Honestly, this manicure did not turn out as well as I would've liked, which I think is partly due to the fact that the reds I used are not perfectly opaque in one stroke over black. This meant I had to go over and over the lines I made to make sure that the red showed up vividly, and that compromised the cleanness of the design. I kind of saw this coming and would've tried it over white, but I knew that black would set the red and gold off so much better that I had to try it anyway.

That said, I cannot wait to do more Harry Potter manicures, and you'll probably be seeing them past the 15th, so be warned. :)

Unoriginal Crackle

This is pretty much the least original crackle manicure that I've done - black and gold. I tried it out quite a while back when I first got my crackles, and unoriginal as it may be, I really like the combination. I used Orly Luxe and China Glaze Black Mesh.

indoors, artificial light

I know you've probably seen this look ten zillion times by now, but I figured I had worn it and might as well post it. So, now you've seen it ten zillion and one times! :) Sorry this is such a short post, but there's really not much to say about this combination except that I really, really like it - which I already said. Until next time!

Kelly Cracked

Poor Kelly...it was just too much to handle. She couldn't help it - she cracked.

I'm not talking about a person, of course, but Zoya Kelly, a cool dark grey that is not only gorgeous, but a dream to apply in two coats. I couldn't resist seeing how Kelly's cool blue tones would contrast with Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold, so here we are. But first, a fact! (I feel like an infomercial sometimes...) "The cure rate for most brain tumors is significantly lower than that for many other types of cancer." - Miles For Hope And now, the manicure:

indoors, artificial light

I'm definitely a fan of this combination. The gold really pops against the dark grey, and since I applied Antiqued Gold over a slightly tacky layer of polish, it cracked much better than when I tried it over Skull & Glossbones - I may have to revisit that combination at some point. What do you think? Is there hope for Kelly, now that she's gone round the bend? ;P

OPI Skull & Glossbones

National Brain Tumor Awareness Month fact: Brain tumor symptoms often mimic other diseases, often making them difficult to diagnose.  - American Brain Tumor Association

I promise this IS a grey, but it pulls green on me when it's on its own. It's a very pretty color, though, and one of the two colors I knew I absolutely had to get from the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean collection, the other being Stranger Tides. I clearly have a thing for weird colors; what can I say? I found the formula of Skull & Glossbones (which is kind of a stupid name, in my opinion, but that's what I've come to expect from OPI) to be excellent: it required two coats for me, but it went on wonderfully and dried fairly quickly as well. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take pictures until after one nail had already chipped - the day I wore it, I did a lot of cooking and made homemade lemonade (the work-intensive kind where you cook the syrup and stuff), and I didn't have a chance to take a picture until afterward. Fortunately, there was only one small chip, so I didn't feel obliged to re-polish that nail for the picture.

indoors, artificial light

Even though I was about to take it off due to the chip, I couldn't resist playing around with Skull & Glossbones. I'd found the Sally Hansen crackles at Walgreens the day before, and I got Cherry Smash, Distressed Denim, Antiqued Gold, and Fractured Foil. I was eager to see how well the metallics would crackle, so I went ahead and put a coat of Antiqued Gold on over Skull & Glossbones.

indoors, artificial light

I do like the effect of this, but it didn't crack much - I discovered later that it cracks better if you put it on over polish that's still a bit tacky. I'll have another grey with gold crackle on top for you Saturday (since tomorrow's grey-free Friday), and I like that combination much better. Care to guess what it is?

Pink Wednesday: Pink & Gold

I almost forgot today was Pink Wednesday, but fortunately I managed to pull something together for a pink post. I painted my nails with three coats of Milani Pink Out Loud, a bright hot pink with pink and gold glass-flecked shimmer, and then I added one coat of Sephora by OPI Only Gold for Me on top.

outdoors, shade

outdoors, sunlight

Neither of these pictures shows Pink Out Loud accurately - I think maybe that's because the gold glitter overpowering enough to throw my camera off, but I'm not sure. Anyway, you can still get the general gist from these pictures.

Just to let you all know, I may not be posting every day for a while. I still love blogging and plan to continue Never Unpolished for the forseeable future, I just don't feel like doing a post every day right now. I do still plan to post at least every other day, if not more often...I guess the point of this is just to tell you not to expect a post every day.

That's all for today - and guess what? It's getting closer and closer to Friday! :)

Gold-Tipped Jade

A little while back - I believe it was sometime last week, but don't hold me to that - I decided to wear OPI Jade is the New Black from the Hong Kong collection, which is my favorite OPI collection to date. After a couple days, it was showing some tipwear, but I didn't want take it off yet. The solution? Gold tips, of course! I used Orly Luxe and Nailene tip guides, but because I was in a hurry and didn't stick the tip guides down well, my tips were a bit uneven.

outdoors, shade

Sorry for my dry fingers and hangnails! Eurgh. I do like the look, though, which is no surprise seeing as I love green and gold together. The combination also makes me want to try the same thing with OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui and Icing Spotlight (a dupe for Orly Shine). I'm still wearing my leopard print nails right now, but I got four of the China Glaze Anchors Away nail polishes in a giveaway and they arrived yesterday, so I imagine that's what I'll be wearing next. Which would you like to see first - Knotty, Starboard, Lighthouse, or Below Deck?

EDIT: Some awesome new nail blogs I've come across! Why do I always forget to do this?
Peace Love Polish
Gotham Polish
Josie's Nails

NailenePerfect Tips and Toes were sent to me for review. For more information, see my disclosure policy.

Borghese Euro Green

Today (well, not today for me, as I'm writing this on Thursday) I have Borghese Euro Green for you. I found this at Ulta a while back when I was looking for the Rapido Dry line...and I found them, but I didn't like any of them as well as Euro Green. It's an olive shimmer with gold, and I love it. I used two coats with Seche Vite.

indoors, artificial light

outdoors, shade (not sure how I managed to get VNL in this one...)

indoors, artificial light

I really love this colors. It's so rich and gorgeous, and while it's definitely not the color of the Euro, I still love the name as well. Euro Green reminds me of China Glaze Peace on Earth, which I wasn't able to get my hands on, and now I'm not sorry about that. This is the perfect green-and-gold combo in my opinion.

Gold-Tipped

I didn't particularly want to touch Night on the Town, but after I stubbed my finger and chipped a little off the tip of one finger, I decided to add some gold. I did something similar to a French manicure, but I painted the tips in straight lines (using Nailene Perfect Tips & Toes toenail guides, which I received for review) rather than following the curve of the nail. I used an unnamed Charlotte Russe for the gold, which funnily enough is also part of Night on the Town. For some reason, the gold doesn't appear opaque in the second picture, but it is in real life.

indoors, artificial light

indoors, artificial light

I've decided to swatch a bunch of colors this afternoon so I don't have to worry about painting my nails for a week or so - I'll still be painting my nails, but I'll just be posting my swatch pictures for a bit. I've just gotten sick again (that stomach flu crap, whoopee) and I'm still catching up with schoolwork from last semester that I missed because of my kidney stones. Anyway, I figured it'd be better to have some pictures stocked up so I can concentrate more on schoolwork and still post often (hopefully daily). I hope you're all having a great week!

EDIT: Why do I always forget to do this?! Here are a couple new nail blogs I discovered recently and am enjoying:

Jessica v. Polish
The College Student's Nail Guide

Franken: Night on the Town

I made this franken in a slight fit of peak after not being able to find 212-Sephora in stores. I thought about ordering online, and then decided that I didn't want to pay nine freaking dollars for it anyway - heck, I'd just franken the thing myself! I used a random clear polish, Rimmel Black Satin, A Perfect 10 Talk Dirty (brown shimmer), an unnamed Charlotte Russe gold, NYC White Lights Glitter, and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. I think HT has been in my last two or three frankens, and I have so many more ideas. I need to stop using it until I get myself a bottle of Nubar 2010! Here are two coats of the franken (and one coat of Seche Vite), which I named Night on the Town:

 outdoors, sunlight

indoors, artificial light

I'm really happy with this - I'm having a tough time deciding whether this or Give Me Gallifrey is my favorite franken so far. I do think Night on the Town is a bit lighter, but seeing as the only time I've seen 212-Sephora in person was in a tester bottle and not on the nail, it's hard to tell. Excuse my gross, dingy-looking fingers - I thought my cleanup was good enough until I looked at these pictures on my computer, and now it's too late to go outside and take more. Ah well. I ended up having a snow day today, and I'm aiming for another tomorrow. I bet I'll have to go to school, though...c'est la vie.