I'm Back! OPI Black Cherry Chutney

Hello again!

Today is a sad day....the weather is terrible and someone unfollowed my blog =[

Sigh, oh well. Thank you all for sticking with me! This semester is intense.

I got OPI's Black Cherry Chutney in a mini pack at Ulta (it was a free gift) the same day that I got all that other epic stuff for free. It came with Brisbane Bronze and Bogota Blackberry. I haven't tried those two yet, but after wearing neon yellow, I wanted something much darker. I think this is the darkest polish I've ever worn!

In my opinion, this is near black, but I don't think it ever looks black, even in low lighting. The shimmer in this is AWESOME! It's mostly red, but every so often you can catch some blue sparkles.

This is two coats of Black Cherry Chutney:


Alright, maybe it's KINDA close to black, but not exactly BLACK black.


Flash.


This and the next one are me trying to get sun pictures inconspicuously while walking to class.




Indirect sun. Gorgeous!


If you couldn't tell, this is a very dark, almost blackened red shimmer. Two coats.

Oh, and ignore those ugly diagonal breaks. My nails never ever break straight across.

The only problem I noticed was cuticle drag, but I didn't let my coats dry in between, so that'd be why =] I actually loved this so much I bought a full sized bottle on amazon. Very sexy polish ;]

I'm slowly catching up on blogging! I've only been doing my nails once a week anyway, which is sad, so I'm not tooooo far behind. It's terrible when your mani chips and you don't have time to change it for a couple days! =[

That's it for now! Thank you so much for reading!

China Glaze - Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

So yeah....I fail at posting.

I meant to post this after Labor Day weekend, but I failed. Don't give up on me! This semester, 18 credits and a job is kicking my butt. I need to start finding time to post instead of just napping every chance I get. I am physically and mentally exhausted.

ANYWAY. Enough with the excuses. I hope all of you with a new school year ahead of you are doing well, and actually....I hope everyone is doing well!

I had ended my last post saying a hint for my next manicure was, summer isn't over yet! And to me, that means NEONS. So my labor day mani was China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini!

Shown here is three coats over one (I think) coat of Sinful Colors Snow Me White:


Most color-accurate.







They look obnoxiously bright with the flash, and the color is not orange-toned at all in real life. Oh, and as you can see, I topped my ring and thumb nails with red-orange colored triangular rhinestones.

That's it for now! My next manicure was much darker...

Til next time,

Janna

Avon - Jade

Hey everyone!

Sophomore year in undergrad started Wednesday so I haven't been posting =[ But here I am!

Today I have Avon - Jade. I've seen this color on other blogs, and it's just so pretty. I really like Avon; I have a ton, and for the price they're really awesome. I also picked up the new colors Urban Grey and Olive Green, but here's Jade:



This is taken on like the 5th day or so of wear...and it still looked pretty good. Application was nice, 3 thin coats and topped with Seche Vite. Base coat is Avon from the same line. In case you couldn't tell, this is a muted seafoamy (?) kind of green, cream finish, really pretty, maybe it's close to the Chanel color of the same name? I wouldn't know. I've never even seen a $25 nail polish, let alone owned one.

As you can see, I chopped my nails off after wearing Paparazzi, and having short nails is so much easier! I might keep them shorter for fall since I hope to start wearing darker colors, but we'll see.

Since I'm at school, my background is green (cause, well, my sheets are green =P), and my roommate, who was my photographer, thought that the green background made the polish look more green than it was. So, to be fair, here's a picture taken on her teal blue sheets:



Definitely looks different =P And OH HELLO chips. Like I said, this was day 5. I hate having to wear polish that long, but there's no way I'm going to be able to get spare time during the school week to change polish.

That's all for right this second. I'm in the middle of another manicure right now, so maybe you'll get another post out of me this weekend before I start another week of school. What polish? Hint: It's not fall just yet!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to my followers =]

Janna

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri

Hellooo!

This was my first full weekend back at school, and since I have no classes yet, it's been pretty good =P

Here's a quick post about my two Sally Hansen Insta Dri polishes.

First up in Lightening:







This is a yellow cream. Shown is 3 coats, but two would have been fine if you were more patient than I was. In the last two pictures, I topped the middle and ring nails with Sinful Colors Dumpling, which is a very sheer yellow shimmer, just to see what it would look like. Love this one =]

Here's Flashy Fuchsia:





Love this one too. Could be a one coater, but shown is two. I've only worn this on my toes before I took these swatches, and I was surprised how much I like it. Very pretty pink shimmer with a violet flash.

I like the wide, flat brush on these, but you need to be sure to put more polish on the brush than usual. Dry time was good! That's all I really have to say about them. I definitely want more of them!

Do you have any Insta-Dri polishes?

Quick Update!

Hello!

I am all moved in at school, and my sophomore year officially begins on September 1st. We somehow got everything to fit in the car for the 3 hour drive, INCLUDING my 200 bottles of nail polish. I have my polishes in 5 shoe boxes. When I brought the first 3 of them in, and everyone I passed made a comment, like one girl was walking with her mom, and the mom said, OHHHH BE HER FRIEND! lol. Got lots of comments marveling at all my polishes, and it was only 3 of the 5! Needless it say, it's a hit with my roommate and suitemate (and their moms!).

So I'm just letting everyone know that I'm most likely going to be MIA for a couple days while I get situated, but not for tooooo long. Please stick with me! I should be getting some free time very soon.

What am I missing? What's going on in the polish world?!

Thanks for reading!

Janna

NOTD: Icing Paparazzi

Hello there =]

I'm posting this much later than I thought I would, but I said you'd see tomorrow so here it is!

Since my poor nails broke on my right hand, I thought Icing Paparazzi would cheer me up, and it definitely worked. I've swatched this color here, but I think I got some better pictures this time around, and these pictures are with base and top coat.

Sorry for wearing this again so soon, but I don't have many glitter polishes. I was going to wear ChG Atlantis, which I've been dying to wear, but the shirt I was wearing out that night was emerald green, and the clash of teal green on my nails would have bothered me =P This is definitely gorgeous though, definitely one of those "going to get into an accident" kind of polishes =P

Onto the pic spam!


Indirect artificial light


Indirect artificial light + flash


...Me hunched over blocking the artificial light?


<3 that glitter.




My new short right hand nails


LOVE this one!

Sorry, couldn't get any two-handed shots since no one is around to take them for me =P Tried to take them by myself once, and it was a huge fail and waste of time.

Shown here is two coats, could have used a third if you're picky, but I think it looks fine with two. This is a rose-toned copper glitter, and there's fine glitter and also a ton of chunky holo glitter in this polish. It is rather thick and you kind of have to glob on the polish, but it wasn't that big of a deal for me. My swatches that I took before (again, seen here) don't really bring out the rose tone, so these pictures are much more color accurate than the swatches I posted before, but in real life the polish is still more rosy than it looks here.

As you can see, in some lights it looks more gold and in some the deep rose copper really stands out, so it's a neutral with a little bit of a pop =]

Oh, and another thing, if you think you see chipping or tipwear on my right hand, it's a lie. I changed my pedi today and the acetone from the felt got onto my tips, taking away the copper color and just leaving the silver glitter. I'll touch those up eventually, but from what I can tell, this polish is pretty long-lasting (BC: Avon adhesive, TC: Seche Vite), and there's not even any tipwear after two full days. Serious achievement if you type as much as I do! Definitely needs TC, and even with it it's really gritty from all the glitter. All in all, I think it's an awesome polish, pretty unique, and it seems to be pretty popular on the blogs. I'm going to keep this on until I have time to change it, since I'm moving into school Friday afternoon and am going to be super busy.

So yeah, if you notice my lack of posting, or posting at all hours of the night, it's cause I'm beginning school very shortly =\ As soon as I get into a routine I'll start posting much more regularly =]

That's all for today! What do you think of Paparazzi? (Love that name!)

What Would Have Been an Awesome NOTD

Good morning =] It's 12:01 here, so I can say that.

Here's a little bit of a recap: On Sunday afternoon, I finished my PHD Challenge entry and decided to change my nails for a bowling party fundraiser thing. I decided on China Glaze Purple Panic (neon), a gorgeous very pink toned purple with subtle pink shimmer. I did my manicure in 3 coats and it dried matte, and while I liked the look, I still topped it with Seche Vite so that maybe my nails would be more protected from breaks.

Got home from the party having broken my thumb, middle, and ring nails on my right hand and chipping my pinky. =[ Guess that was the price for bowling with long nails. I didn't fix them for the next day, but instead I just topped them with two more coats of polish, skipping top coat this time, and now I can show you how they turned out.

Here's my left hand, which used to be my short one but now it's my long one =P (All of these are without topcoat)





I really love this color and this was the first time I've ever used it. That little pinkish flash you can sorta see is really pretty with topcoat.

Andddd my poor right hand (WARNING: THESE ARE ALL EXTREMELY OUT OF FOCUS, and I have no clue why. I need a camera with a real "macro" setting and not just a "close up" mode):





My thumb was the first to go, and as soon as I lost that one (I cut it down before taking this picture, to sort of even it out), I switched from an 8 pound ball to a 6 pound ball. I'm a weakling, I know this. Anyway, those are my poor nails, and I cut them down this morning and tried to lift my spirits with a glitter polish. You get to see which one tomorrow =]

Talk to you soon,

Janna

PHD Song Inspiration Challenge

Gooood afternoon/evening/morning, depending on when and where you're reading this =]

This challenge was really tricky for me and I spent literally 3 days thinking of a song, and having my family and friends help me think. I was browsing on a list of the top songs, as voted by the site's viewers, and I think I reached song 300-something by the time I made a decision. I'm so picky =p

I not only wanted to pick a good song that translates to pictures or images, but I wanted a song that fits my personal taste. I really love music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, as well as other genres, and this fits =]

(The gallery will be linked HERE when it's posted.)

Can you guess what it is? Here is what I submitted:



This played out pretty much just like I envisioned it, which was surprising because I'm super picky, and a perfectionist =P

Another:



This is one of the best songs ever, such a classic. How can you not love her voice and emotion?

Okay here's the super long list of what I used:

Tools: double-sided dotting tool and nail art brush.

The blue background is NYC Skin Tight Denim Creme. Moon: Avon Nailwear Polish in French Tip White. Stars: Avon Nailwear in French Tip White, Rimmel Polish in Insolence, Cover Girl in City Lights. Train Outline: Art Deco in Silver. Train: Ulta Black Lace (Glam Goth collection). Smoke: Art Deco in Silver and Ulta Black Lace.

Thumb Background: Avon Speed Dry in Creamy Coral (Peach, get it?). Georgia: Color Club Art Club polish in Mint. Lettering: Color Club Art Club polish in Midnight Blue.

Other stuff I used was Seche Vite topcoat, Avon adhesive base coat, and LA Colors Base/Top Coat.

Whew =] Here's what it is, if you couldn't guess =] Of course I listened to this while singing along on repeat while doing my manicure.




Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Janna