Thursday 31 October 2013

F4 - Hocus Pocus: Well worth the wait.

Well Halloween has come and gone.  And I'll be honest with you guys the one thing I will be missing will be the horror movies that are always on the television.  I love a good(or hilariously bad) horror film.

This polish that I wore today was part of F4's Halloween line last year.  I didn't wear it last year so I decided that this year I was going to wear it on Halloween for the first time.  I wanted my first time to to be special guys.  So I have been sitting on this polish for over a year and that day has finally come.  Let me tell you it was well worth the wait(OMG she used the title of the post in the post...like in movies).

I decided to go with the obnoxious look.  My base was a bright orange by Orly(I could not find the name on the mini bottle), and I used one coat of Hocus Pocus over it.  Hocus Pocus is tiny matte black glitter and pink glitter, as well as larger pieces of green and yellow glitter.  Formula was super easy to use and you could probably get this to be opaque on its own in 3 coats or so.

So do I do Christmas stuff now?

Have you tried F4 polishes?  Do you think this was worth the wait?  Do you like scary movies?  Which ones?  TELL ME!




Wednesday 30 October 2013

Zombie French! My bloody spin on something cute.

So this manicure was inspired by 2 things.  One thing really good, and one thing a total fail.  The good would have to be these Franken French nails over at Claws Up!  I really liked it and thought it was really cute, but I wanted to try a non cute sort of version of it.  That leads me to the second thing that inspired me.  Almost a year ago I actually tried to decute a different Halloween manicure, and it just turned into one big mess.  It was one of the rare times I posted a fail.

For this manicure I actually used a lot of the same polishes and paints as it did last time with the exception of the OPI and red Essie.  I decided to still stick with a more zombified version and leave out the stitches.  I achived the finished look by painting 3 coats of Essie's Sew Psyched, then covering it with Seche.  Once the Seche was dry to the touch I would make a tiny hole maybe 5mm from the tip of my nail, and then pulled down gently so it tore, and looked like the skin was pulled back.  Next in and around the tear I blotted some black acrylic paint, then over that some bright red acrylic paint.  Then to make it a bit more real looking I added some Cult Nails Quench and Barry M Red Black. (Note:  I didn't clean my brush between colours like I normally do). Finally I smudged some red polish and brown paint of the rest of my nails to give them a dirty look.

This year I am really pleased with how my decuteting went.  Hope you like :)



Tuesday 29 October 2013

China Glaze - Cast A Spell: Let's have a serious chat about ghosts, and Christmas.

First of all unlike aliens I can't say if I believe in ghosts or not.  They may be real, they may not be.  I don't know.  I do know one thing though, if ghosts do exist they are creepy.  Not in an "Eep that's a dead person" kind of way, they are creepy in a sketchy kind of way.  When I think of ghosts I think "Oh, so are you watching me do stuff...that's weird".  Think of how many people have died.  I sometimes wonder is my room is filled with non threatening sketch ghosts.  Are they lurking during special cuddles time?  I wonder at times if ghosts are invading my privacy.  This is something that troubles me.

Now the polish is from last years China Glaze Halloween collection.  I actually bough it last year in December.  I found it and I thought it would be perfect for my friend as part of her Christmas gift. Then the minute I brought it home I immediately changed my mind and decided it was mine.   It does not count as taking back a gift if they never got it.

Cast A Spell is a black base full of olive/gold shimmer.  It went on like a dream in almost one coat.  But I did need a second for a bit of patchiness.  It is soooooooooooooooooooooo pretty in real life.  Had the sun come out for a bit longer today I would have had to have taken photos outdoors.

If you can still find this, I suggest you all go out and buy it!  It's such a fantastic shade.  I'm so glad I decided to keep this :)




 Flash *A-AH*

Monday 28 October 2013

Pumpkin Half Moons! - I hate pumpkins!

Soooooooooooooo I actually did these nails over two weeks ago and started this post maybe 10 days ago.  I ended up pushing the post back and finishing it now.

Let's start with some hard hitting truths.  I actually don't like pumpkin.  I've had one pumpkin soup that I've liked and that was it.   Actually had a pumpkin spice latte the other day.  I was in the mood for a fall drink, which generally means something apple.  But since the place I was at didn't have any apple goodness I decided to try the latte.  Wow.  The only way I can describe the flavour was a cross between horrid kids medicine, and vomit aftertaste.   No, it tasted like I had thrown up horrid kids medicine.  Ill stick to my apple cider next time.

UNLESS I don't have to ingest it.  I think that is why I ended up loving these nails.  They were super easy to do as I didn't have to be exact with them *HUZZAH*.  For my base I used China Glaze Glittering Garland, and for the pumpkins I just used acrylic paint.

Again I was super pleased with these.  What do you think?  Also does anyone have a pumpkin recipe that can convert this pumpkin hater?

With Flash, *A-AH*.
 Without Flash, *A-AH*.

Sunday 27 October 2013

Claw Polish - Phantom + The cutest zombie hand ever!

Let's just bang out the polish review first.  I actually won Phantom!   I was going to try and find a bottle of China Glaze Immortal(Halloween 2012) originally but when I won this my cravings for a shimmery gray had been satisfied.

Phantom is medium, leaning dark gray, with silver, blue and pink shimmer.  It was opaque in only 2 coats.  It was pretty much a perfect gray polish.  Honestly if you like gray polishes you should try and get your hands on this.  I can't tell you where to buy them or how much they are as I won this and have never seen it in stores.


 The pink was hard to capture, but you can see it here!


I wore it for 2 days before I decided I wanted to do some nail art on it.  So I thought it would be cute to do a little graveyard mani.  And my ring finger is a zombie hand reaching out.  I don't know why but my first thought was "That's a cute little hand."  My second thought was "It's probably a child."  Then I started thinking, would I have it in me to kill this undead child?  Probably.  The cross is a little decrepit and uneven looking, but I'm just going to say it's because it's an unknown grave, that has been neglected and forgotten over time.
I look mildly jaundice!

Friday 25 October 2013

hey look a post from Robyn

HEY FRIENDS

Since Fingers posted this super cute dotticure, I've had this colour combo rolling around in my head. Dots are definitely not my forte, but I love me some stripes!

My base colour is OPI French Quarter for Your Thoughts, a light, creamy grey. I love this colour so much, I think it's the only polish I've worn 3 times within a month!

 

With striping tape and OPI Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window*, I made some diagonal stripes along half of each nail. The tip is Essie Go Overboard, with a gold stud for shazam. I think it looks very military.


How much do you love striping tape!?

*The worst polish name ever. Everyone gets their own gross mental image with this one. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, SUZI.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Nightmare Before Christmas Nails: You can't tell me you didn't see this coming!

So with all the polishes inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas I decided to do a Nightmare Before Christmas manicure.  Again I haven't seen this movie in forever but I remember the gist of it.

First I did 2 coats of Claws Polish Voodoo, a red jelly full of red shimmer *drools*.  Then when that was good a dry I taped off triangles and painted the rest black.  With a striper I added some white stripes with acrylic paint.  Finally I finished with a rhinestone at the tip of the triangle.

See what I did there?

It's the pattern on Jack Skellingtons suit AND a Santa hat!




Note:  Remember how I said my internet was all wacky and not working.  Well my internet has been semi fixed.  It's now sort of working.  Do you know how long these photos took me to upload?  Almost 10 minutes.  What is this 1997?  I can't deal with this.  And email is even worse.  I don't wanna get into this.  *weeps*.

Tuesday 22 October 2013

LynBDesigns - Pumpkin King: This post is brought to you by a bad internet connection and computer rabies.

So this post was originally supposed to go up at noon today BUT my internet has been kind of poopy lately.  So I attempted to post it in a coffee shop today but it was telling me the only internet connection available could give my computers rabies.  Ok it didn't say that, but it said it wasn't safe, so I didn't risk it.  That and I felt miserable in the coffee place.  I sat next to a door and then I bought a frozen lemonade. I know, lemonade in a coffee shop!  I was freezing my tushy off!

Frozen bum aside let's talk polish! Pumpkin King is the final polish I have from LynBDesigns The Nightmare Begins collection. It's based on Jack Skellington who is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town(Think of him as their Santa). It’s exactly what you would think when you think of Pumpkin King. I would also say it is the only polish in the whole collection that really does lean towards Halloween. It’s small orange glitter as well as medium size hex glitter as well as silver hex glitter, then it also has black bar, diamond and star glitter. I ended up layering 2 coats over OPI’s My Boyfriend Scales Walls. It was very easy to apply(although you may have to fiddle with glitter placement now and then) and I wore this for 2 days. On the second day I added black tips. They were a bit chunky but it wasn't all that noticeable in real life. I sadly had to take it off a few hours after I put the tips on. I don't know what I did exactly but I ended up chipping and breaking some nails on the hand I don't photograph.

If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.  Not only is this brand filled with exciting and unique shades it's a little extra exciting for those of us who are part of fandoms.  She sells everything from Doctor Who, to Sherlock, to Princess Bride themed polishes.




 *Product sent for honest review.

Monday 21 October 2013

LynBDesigns - Ghostlike Charms

Here is my fourth polish from LynBDesigns The Nightmare Begins collection!

Ghostlike Charms is a sheer, cloudy polish, full of purple micro shimmer.  It also has silver and holographic glitter, in small squares, hex's and bars.

I don't know what it is but recently I have been really digging these more girly, soft colours.  I mean it's not something I would wear most of the time, but considering there was a time I wouldn't even consider wearing stuff like this.

I first decided to layer it over something dark, so I used Barry M's Dusky Mauve.  It also has similar fine shimmer but it's fine enough that the cloudyness covered it.  I used 2 coats of Ghostlike Charms and I liked it.  But I must say I loved when I put 2 coats over OPI's My Pointe Exactly.  I thought this sheer gray would go perfectly with this.  And you know what?  It did.  In person I could not stop looking at it.  Although if I wear that combo again I either need to buff my nails or do another coat of the OPI(which I don't want to do because that takes at least 4 coats for full opacity).  My nails kinda made the manicure a little less stunning because the undies were so sheer and you could sort of see the yellow stains on my nails... :S

If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.




*Product sent for honest review

Saturday 19 October 2013

LynBDesigns - Lock, Shock, and Barrel: It's like the Joseph coat of polishes

I have my third LynBDesigns polish for you guys today from The Nightmare Begins collection, Lock, Shock and Barrel.  Lock, Stock and Barrel are those three trick or treaters that kidnap Santa Clause and take him to the Oogie Boogie's.  You know, the kids who in really life would avoid at all cost.  In the real world they would all be in jail by now.

This polish is a blue crelly PACKED with an assortment of small glitter.  If you can think of a colour it's probably in there.  Blue, pink, gold, green, red, it's all there.  It reminds me of candy!  This polish only needed 2 coats for full opacity.  It's a bit of a top coat om nomer so I had to use 2 coats of seche.  It was still a bit bumpy to the touch even though your couldn't really tell by just looking at it.  If you need it to be totally smooth then you may have to use a third coat.

If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.  And if you order now through Sunday, and use the code CHICAGO you can get 50% of your purchase of $16 or more.

What was your favourite Halloween candy?  And if Halloween isn't a thing where you live, what is your favourite candy?

 NOTE: The colour is a tad darker when not directly under light. Closer to photo #1 and #3

 
 *Product sent for honest review

Friday 18 October 2013

LynBDesigns - Frogs Breath: I've made a huge mistake. But frogs make everything better!

Today I have another LynBDesigns!  This is also from The nightmare begins collection.

I sort of wanted to put this and Deadly Nightshade together, but I didn't want to overload the post.  The reason I wanted to put them together is because along with Deadly Nightshade, Sally also put Frogs Breath into Doctor Finkelstein soup.

Frogs Breath is a bright green, jelly polish.  It kind of reminds me of murky water.  The polish is filled with matte black hexogonal and bar glitter.  As well as black matte shards.  Application was really easy and was 3 coats.  This is not a polish you'll ever get light impenetrable opaque and in my opinion, that's just fine.

Here is where I made my mistake.  I layered it over Orly's Lucky Duck.  I honestly don't think it worked.  Don't get me wrong they didn't look bad together they just kind of fell flat.  SO I ADDED A FROG WITH 3D EYES!  And everything was better...minus the blah nails that weren't the frog.  I would have loved the accent with the polish on it's own.  If you are going to layer this you need to find the right colour.  Or you kind of just destroy the magic of the polish.






 If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.  And if you order now through Sunday, and use the code CHICAGO you can get 50% of your purchase of $16 or more. 

Do you think it looks better with the undies I chose or without?

 *Product sent for honest review

Thursday 17 October 2013

LynBDesigns - Deadly Nightshade: VHS??????

This polish is from LynBDesigns The Nightmare Begins collection (It's inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas for those of you who have yet to catch on).   If you don't know about her brand most of the polishes are fandom related.  I'm 97% sure she has the largest collection of Doctor Who polishes :)

Now back to this polish.  I'm going to be honest with you guys.  I do love this film, but I haven't seen it in YEARS.  I'm going to blame it on the fact that I own a copy of this film on VHS*.  I have a VHS player but it's annoying.  Woe is me.  But I really want to watch it again in the next few days.

Hail Yeezus and bless the interwebs.

So Deadly Nightshade is what Sally put into Doctor Finkelstein soup in order for him to fall asleep and her to escape(He made her, she a rag doll).  The polish is a purple pink, with super fine green shimmer.  In the bottle it reads more purple than pink but when you put it on your nails you for sure get purple pink.  It was also more sheer than what I expected looking at it in the bottle, but at the same time it surprised me by only needed 3 coats for opacity.  I also layered one coat over a dark purple(China Glaze Urban Nights).  When you layer it over a darker colour the green for sure takes center stage.

If you would like a bottle of this you can head over to LynBDesigns Etsy shop.  Polishes retail from between $8-$10USD.  And if you order now through Sunday, and use the code CHICAGO you can get 50% of your purchase of $16 or more.

Onto the photos!  I actually found the green to be the hardest to capture.  You can see it in the photos but it's a bit more green in real life.  And the last photo is over the purple.  Not only that but I used flash to show you exactly what the shade of green looks like.  Know that the flash makes all those streaks pop out. It does not look streaky in real life.





*VHS
abbreviation for
(Electronics) video home system: a video cassette recording system using ½″ magnetic tape

 *Product sent for honest review

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Self Defense Against Fresh Fruit Nails: Ft. My new brushes and a story about how I can now say I picked up John Cleese's fresh fruit

So if there is one thing you should know about me is that I love comedy.  One day in the future(as opposed to the past) I would really love to have my own show on television.  There are so many different comedians who influence me in different ways, but one of my biggest influences would have to be Monty Python.  I have always been in love with their unique brand of humor.  I have been lucky enough to have seen John Cleese perform live twice!  Once only a few weeks ago :)  Not only that but I was helping out at Just For Laughs this year and I got to go pick up his fresh fruit!  I didn't get to give it to him but still!

I sort of had these nails in mind for a while and I thought this would be the perfect time to try out my new from KKCenter HK. If you don't know what Self Defense Against Fresh Fruit is your life is missing something.   I will help you fill that void.  SDAFF is a classic sketch by Monty Python that was originally in their show Monty Python's Flying Circus.  It's exactly what it sounds like.  The instructor(John Cleese) is teaching a class how to defend themselves against fresh fruit(I used China Glaze Sea Spray as my base as it was close to the colour of the shirt he's wearing in the sketch).  All the fruit on my nails are fruit that are either mentioned(Segmented grapefruit, red cherries, apple, grapes) or shown(banana).  In his demonstrations every time someone attacks him with fruit he kills them in a violent, and unnecessary way(16 ton weight and gun).  Finally there is one student(Eric Idle) who insists on being taught how to defend oneself if attacked with a pointed stick.  Hence the pointed stick on my ring finger.  I suggest you watch the whole thing for a good laugh.  I'll post it at the bottom.



The brush set comes with 15 pieces. For this I used 5 different brushes.  Striping brush, a detailing brush, a dotting tool, and two that I don't really have a name for.  These were really easy to use.  The brushes were firm, but not stiff.  I am completely enamoured with the detailing brush.  It is perfect for not only smaller details, but also for writing on you nails.  I wish the set came with another dotting tool.  One that was maybe bigger.  As you can see my grapes are pretty small(which works for grapes), but that's about as big as the dots get.  These brushes are made out of synthetic material, which is why I suspect they say don't use polish remover on it.  This isn't a huge deal for me because when I do stuff like this 95% of it is usually acrylic paint, which easily comes off with water.  That being said I did use a bit of nail polish, and that was a lot harder to get off with just water.  So I did use remover to clean it in the end and the brushes are still fine.  If you do this be careful.




If you would like a pack of these brushes you can get them from KKCenterHk's website.  They retail for $15USD.  But you can get them for less if you use our KKCenterHk 15% off discount code! 'varnishedvalkyrieevent15off' (Valid till March 11th 2014).

So any Python fans out there?!?!  This is SOME of my collection of Monty Python stuff(Everything from the entire 16 DVD box set of the Series, to records).  And below that is the fresh fruit I picked up for John Cleese :P


Ps.  Here's the sketch.  WATCH!

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