My 4th of July Mani

Hey everyone!  Happy 4th of July!  I'm still in Hilton Head but managed to sneak in mani and some quick pics.  I won't review these polishes now since there are 6 of them involved, but you can expect these to get reviewed when they are used for full manis at some point in the future. 

Alternating Shatter Mani!

2 coats Orly Star Spangled + 1 coat blue shatter and Seche Vite, sunlight

For this mani I used BTOUCH Bet On This Blue (see review here), Orly Star Spangled (red), and Savina French White.  I topped these with OPI's White, Blue and Red Shatters and a coat of Seche Vite.  I didn't manage to get right up to my base colors' edge because my shatters needed more thinning, but I think the effect still works!  These are all keepers for me (not that you would have doubted it).

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER OUR NFU OH 61 GIVEAWAY!  GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!  Entries received after 11:59 PM EST WILL NOT be counted!

Happy 4th!

~Shbecky

Julep: Amy and OPI Navy Shatter

Hey everyone!  I just got back from an AWESOME day at the outlets and Ikea.  I'm tuckered out but very happy.  They opened a Bloomingdales outlet which I think may become a problem for my finances pretty soon.  I grabbed the wide Ikea Alex to shift my polishes into tomorrow.  It seems way sturdier and can fit way more than my Helmer.  It also looks like real furniture instead on a filing cabinet.  I will put up pics tomorrow after Warren kindly assembles it for me.  I have lots of polish goodies that came today that I can't wait to swatch.  I have my first Ginger & Liz polishes, Kleancolor Chunky Holos (even though one shattered and they are effectively a statue of polish for now), China Glaze 2nite and Deborah Lippmann GITA (YAYYY).   Expect reviews and tons of pics soon. 

Tonight I am showing you another Julep and OPI Shatter combo that I love almost as much as Julep Helena and OPI Turquoise Shatter.  This is Julep Amy with Navy Shatter.  I will spare you a full on explanation about the brands and polishes since I went through most of it yesterday for you.  (See that post here).  I included an image of the Julep brush so you could see how small it is!

2 coats Amy + Seche Vite, artificial light

Amy is a dusty light blue creme.  Just like Helena it was a dream to apply and it is naturally super shiny.  It is totally opaque in 2 quick coats and a pretty unique looking blue IMO.  I think it looks like it should be part of the OPI Pirates collection.  It has that faded dusty creme thing going like Planks A Lot and Steady As She Rose do.  Basically if they had added a blue, it could have or should have been this one.  Below are 2 more bottle shots and if you bear with me to the end I have a shatter shot!

Julep Amy

Teeny weeny but great brush

I topped this mani off with OPI Navy Shatter.  While Blue and Turquoise are shimmery shatter polishes, this is a jelly (om nom nom).  It painted on really smoothly and I loved how the brush seemed to fit my nail perfectly to cover in 2 smooth swipes.  Amy peaks out just the right amount to give a really subtle but beautiful shatter mani.  Another A+ shatter from OPI!

2 coats Amy + 1 coat Navy Shatter + Seche Vite, artificial light

Verdict?  Maybe I should stop including a verdict since I am going to keep everything I don't despise . . . Stashing both for sure!

Don't forget to enter our Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway!  I have found 2 nice extras to throw in with it!


~Shbecky

Julep: Helena and OPI: Turquoise Shatter

Good afternoon!  I have been dying to show this polish and this shatter combo to you guys for a few days now.  I just knew that when I finally showed it to you I'd be sad I didn't get to reveal this beauty again and again.  This polish is a new brand to me.  I got these on special at some point a little while ago.  I saw these on The PolishAholic's blog a few weeks back when she was running a giveaway.  I drooled over her swatches, but resisted the urge to buy these as they are $14 each.  However, I got my hands on a coupon code and got 4 of these for a steal.  They came in a great little box with a bow and a little gift of their roll-on cuticle oil.   Like Zoya polishes, these are all named with women's names.  As you can see in the pictures below, the bottle looks like a rectangular lip gloss package.  The bottles are extremely unique and I love them.  They also have this little design that lets you gauge how much is left.  Helena is a really bright fuchsia jelly/creme.  This image does little justice for the color, which is about 3x brighter than this picture shows.

2 coats Helena + Seche Vite, artificial light

These polishes are 3 Free, and surprisingly easy to apply.  They stay put on the nail and the top is easy to manage.  The cap and the brush are REALLY short.  I was upset at first that a $14 polish would have such a dinky top and brush.  However, I was impressed by the ease in application here.  I've tried another Julep polish already, and this seems to apply to all of their polishes.  Now if only my camera could register the level of brightness that Helena brings to the table.  LOVE IT!  Julep polishes can be purchased on their website!

Nifty way to determine how much polish is left!

lipgloss-esque bottle

Now - I apologize for the heavy post, but these polishes happened to arrive the same day as my Turquoise and Navy OPI shatters.  I now own ALL of OPI's shatters, and I must say that Turquoise and Navy may have the best formulas yet.  They are 3 Free and feature a brush a that is flat and wide, but not as wide as the Pro Wide brush.  Black and Silver Shatter got thick really quickly, but I haven't noticed that with this polish.  Maybe OPI stepped its formula game up when the shatters exploded into the market from every brand.  Anywho, Turquoise is a light blue shimmery shatter.  It is really easy to get opaque coverage in one coat.  This looked insanely great over Helena.  I want to wear this combo every day.  I HIGHLY advise clicking these images, because you get a really great look at how pretty these are in full size. 

2 coats Julep Helena + Seche Vite + Turquoise Shatter + Seche Vite

Very Shiny!

A really pretty contrast (ignore the very not straight cuticle area, sorry!)

Sorry, that was extremely picture heave.  Hopefully this shows you how I feel about these polishes and this particular combo!  


Verdict?  I find myself torn, because I want to wear so many of my untrieds but I want to wear this as a full mani for the next year straight.  LOVE!

Don't forget to enter of Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway!

~Shbecky

Cubs Mani: 2 coats China Glaze Pelican Gray with Sally Hansen Distressed Denim Crackle

Here is a peak at my inadvertent Cubs mani! I did this in the dark so it's nothing to be proud of but it fits for the game today. It's topped with Out The Door Holographic Top Coat in Gold since I forgot to pack seche vite. I'll give a more thorough crackle review soon and talk more about Pelican Grey. We'll be doing a shatter/crackle week soon so get excited!



Check back soon for more info on our giveaway! Don't forget to show some love by following us on Google Friend Connect!

-Shbecky
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:N Rush St,Chicago,United States

OPI: Spark de Triomphe and White Shatter

The other night while swatching and taking pictures, I reached for my Seche Vite Base Coat only to have the bottle LITERALLY shatter and spill all over my (closed, thank god) laptop! Really glad it wasn't a color that shattered, but lesson learned. I will find another flat surface to paint my nails on. Has this ever happened to anyone with their base/top coats? Traumatizing. Shbecky can confirm that I ran out of my room in hysterics, probably scaring the crap out of her.

Back to the topic at hand! Since it seems that you can only purchase white shatter in a set with Spark de Triomphe, I went for it.

[Anyone know what Serena Williams has to do with Spark de Triomphe? Because I don't]

edited to add: Duh, I'm a huge tennis fan, I totally get it now. French Open starts soon! I haven't had my coffee yet, forgive me.

Spark de Triomphe is a lovely sparkle polish with sparkles of varying sizes, all in gold.


I used two THICK coats of this to achieve maximum sparkle saturation.

[2 coats Spark de Triomphe, artificial light]

I'm pretty impatient and did not wait for this to fully dry before I applied shatter. Honestly, I don't think it made a difference. The white shatter worked beautifully and I love the final product!

[2 Coats Spark de Triomphe, White Shatter, Seche Vite Top Coat]

Next time maybe I will go a little lighter on the white shatter. I think I applied it too thick. Here's a closeup thumb shot. Excuse the Braziliant cuticle residue. It stained my cuticles!

Verdict: Obvi stash. I love me some shatter, can't wait to get more! Maybe next time, I will use the white shatter over an obnoxious color. I have this fluorescent, highlighter yellow color from Essie's 2010 collection that would look great with white shatter.

-Eisenbrat

Essie: Absolutely Shore + Burst Crackle: Four Rolling Hills

If Eisenbrat weren't soundly snoring in her bed right now she'd probably want to kill me for posting Absolutely Shore.  However this polish fiend got it first and it happens to be the perfect undie coat for my new favorite crackle brand.  I'm sorry, OPI, but Burst has shocked me with their great formula.  It just doesn't get thick like the others.  It covers in 3 perfect swipes and even if you use 2 coats it shatters pretty darn well.  I'm getting ahead of myself, back to Essie.

2 coats Absolutely Shore, no top coat + artificial light

Absolutely Shore is from this Summer's collection and is quickly becoming hard to find.  All Essie's are 3 Free these days and tend to have a squishy jelly-creme hybrid texture.  This minty green is no exception and is opaque in 2 coats.  The bottle and brush need no introduction at this point.  If you have any questions I will gladly answer them!  Be aware that the photo makes this look like it leans blue way more than it does.  It is definitely a good bit greener IRL.

Now for what you were really interested in, the crackle effect.

1 coat Four Rolling Hills over Absolutely Shore, naturally matte/no top coat + artificial light

The bottle shape for these seems to be almost identical to a Seche Vite bottle.  The top is just about half an inch taller.  It actually makes it easier to hold.  As far as I can tell these are 3 Free.  They are available for $3.75 at both TransDesign and Victoria's Nail Supply!  They even beat the other brands in price.  My guess is Color Club's upcoming collection of crackles will be in this price range, but I'm not optimistic on the ability of any other brand to compete with this.  WARNING: your base polish needs to be completely dry.  I know other brands tell you that it needs to be dry, but realistically it just needs to be mostly dry.  I thought my black polish on my wheel was totally dry, but I was wrong and the polish pulled apart intensely. Bonus - they work over top coat.  I have not really had much of an issue with this in other brands, but there is a dirty blog rumor saying no crackles over top coat. 

1 coat Four Rolling Hills over Absolutely Shore + Seche Vite top coat + artificial light

As you can see 2 pics up, the crackle dries matte.  It is also really lovely with a top coat on it as shown right above.  It looks like its patchy almost/has uneven application, BUT this is just something that shows up under my super bright artificial light.  I also am aware that I have plastic stuck on my thumb...I'm a mess!

Verdict? This afternoon I placed an order for 5 more of these!  I also already got a pink and will show you soon :)  Can you tell what I think?  I know I hide it really well haha.

Check back tomorrow for info about our 100 follower giveaway!  Hint: It's NEVER in stock these days!  Any guesses?

-Shbecky

P.S.  @DailyNail - you need this!