Sinful Colors Zeus

Sinful Colors is one of my favorite drugstore brands. Their formula is quite good, and they often come out with unique colors. Zeus is one of those original beauties.

Sinful Colors recently released a collection called Cast Away. The whole collection has a Greek theme, and this polish is named after Zeus, the god of sky and thunder according to Greek mythology. I definitely think this polish fits the name, it's like a gorgeous evening sky. Sinful Colors Zeus is a dusty purple with a strong pink shimmer. And it is very, very pretty!

Shimmah!

What a gorgeous, unique shade! I have nothing close to this in my collection. The shade of purple leans blue-ish periwinkle, and I love that dusty look. Very demure and classy. Zeus is a perfect example of a drugstore gem. A gorgeous polish, and quite cost effective. Sinful Colors is a lovely brand, and I am thoroughly impressed by Zeus.

- Aly

Julep Natasha

After winning a completely amazing Golden Box from Julep, I had trouble deciding which color to try first. The one that really called to me was Natasha, a super bright orange-red crème. And let me tell you, Natasha is a beauty!

It took me 3 thin coats to achieve full coverage with Natasha. I am sure you could get away with 2 thicker coats instead, if you're short on time. The color itself is pretty interesting. It is a very bright orange with a good amount of red in there as well. The closest I have in my collection is OPI My Chihuahua Bites, but that had a much redder overall appearance. I am always glad to find that I don't have a dupe!

This color just screams Summer to me! It is so bright and fun. At the same time, it isn't too crazy or wild. I like that every once in a while :) 

I received this color from the Julep Maven program. If you'd like to become a Maven, you can receive your first box for only 1¢ by clicking my referral link and entering the code SHAREONMARCH. 

- Aly

I won a Julep Golden Box!

I went to pick up my March Julep Maven box from the mail center today. And I got lucky! I won a Golden Box :) Take a look at what I received.

 What's in the box?

A nail file and Julep Elixir!

And....

L to R: Kelly, Emma, Alicia, Portia, Brooke, Jennifer,

Jodie, Charlotte, Melissa, Natasha, and Sofia

11 beautiful Julep polishes!

Seriously, I can't believe how awesome this is. I have always thought Julep is awesome, and now I am falling in love. I received over $150 worth of Julep today, and I didn't pay anywhere near that. If I wasn't obsessed with the Maven program before today, it's safe to say I am now!

If you would like to become a Julep Maven, they are currently running an awesome deal. If you use my referral link and enter the coupon code SHAREONMARCH, you will receive your first Maven shipment for a penny! As in $.01! One cent! That is an amazing deal -- let me know if you try it out!

- Aly

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I know everyone and their mother has a St. Patrick's Day manicure to show today, but here's mine!

I'm wearing 2 coats of China Glaze Starboard, followed by 1 coat of Sinful Colors Green Ocean. The Sinful Colors is a mix of blue-green glitters and flakies, all in a pretty green tinted base. Lovely! On my ring finger, I freehanded a four leaf clover with Finger Paints Black Expressionism. Nothing too fancy, but I still really like the outcome :)

One in the shade --  Green Ocean looks great here!

So, that's my take on a festive St. Patrick's Day manicure. I don't really celebrate the holiday at all -- except on my nails, of course!

What are your St. Patrick's Day plans? I'm doing manicures for my Grandma and cousin! Have lots of fun and be SAFE :)

- Aly

Wet N Wild Ice Baby: Cost Is No Issue

A while ago I bought most of the Ice Baby glitters by Wet N Wild. I had planned to swatch them all sequentially, but I got distracted. Now a few months later, take a look at Cost Is No Issue!

Cost Is No Issue is a very pretty mix of turquoise microglitter and larger blue hex glitter. It is also very, very close to Nails Inc. Fitzroy Square. Now, I am all for saving money on bargain nail polish, so that makes me a happy girl :) The application was AWESOME. Glitter can be finicky, but I was able to reach full opacity with just 2 easy coats.

Shiny!

I am loving this glitter. Easy application and a lovely look. I think that Wet N Wild really hit it out of the park on this whole Ice Baby collection. 

- Aly

Garbo Meets Glitter

So, it's Pink Wednesday. How about a muted rosy red instead?

Zoya Garbo is a super shiny rosy red jelly. The color has that lovely squishy look that makes jellies so special. I also like the muted look Garbo has. Despite being a red, it isn't garish. Instead, it is very classy looking and with lots of squishy depth.

On top of 3 coats of Zoya Garbo, I added some glitter by Love & Beauty. Now the name of the glitter is something dumb like Silver Glitter. How original :) Luckily, the beautiful glitter itself makes up for the stupid name. On my ring finger, I did 2 coats. On the others, I fished out glitter and placed it in a line down the nail's center.

I really like the glitter lines. It is kind of like a subdued version of the rhinestone look I did a little while ago. Plus, everyone loves a glitterbomb accent nail!

- Aly

China Glaze Magnetix: Instant Attraction

Sorry for the delay in posts. I was finishing up midterms and getting all settled in back home for Spring Break. The weather here in Wisconsin is looking pretty good these next few days, though it is rainy today. I guess that rain is technically Spring weather too, though! Hopefully I can get some good pictures despite the clouds :)

Anyway, here is another China Glaze magnetic polish for you. Again I used the magnet that China Glaze is selling in the Magnetix display. Instant Attraction is a blackened purple burgundy color. The magnetic designs are very cool, but once again I do wish that the magnet were stronger. But I still like the color and the effect. Take a look.

I really like the dramatic look that this polish has. The deep color is very vampy, but the magnetic effect adds some fun to the look.

I purchased a Nabi magnetic polish the other day; I can't wait to try it. I am hoping that the magnet that came with the Nabi is stronger than that which came with the China Glaze. Fingers crossed!

- Aly

Giveaway WINNER!

First off, I just want to say thank you all so much for entering my giveaway. Your comments and suggestions are so helpful! The jokes I got were pretty cute too :) Thanks for being such lovely followers!

Altogether, I had 274 people enter and 466 total entries. I used a random number generator to pick a number, and got 137.

And that corresponded to number 137 on my spreadsheet, which was Anibani.

Congratulations, Anibani!

China Glaze Magnetix: Drawn to You

Magnetic polish is a new trend that has been all over the blogosphere lately, and China Glaze recently released their take on the trend. I was pretty excited to try this out, but I am not entirely sure that I think it lives up to the hype.

Drawn to You is a medium purple magnetic polish from their Magnetix collection. The color itself is a nice middle-toned purple. Right after applying the polish, you hold a magnet above your nail to create the design. The polish dries quickly, so you have to go one nail at a time. To me, the China Glaze magnet seemed a bit too weak. Sometimes the pattern didn't quite show up across the nail, and I had to do it again. Still, the overall effect is pretty cool looking.

I think that this polish is very pretty, and very unique. However, the magnet itself was a disappointment. I think I might look for a better, stronger magnet online. That said, I still like the idea of magnetic polish. I would love to try some more magnetic polishes, maybe from another brand. I saw some really nice looking ones by Nabi.

Have you tried magnetic polish yet?

- Aly

The Poor Lacquerista's Elytra

As you may know, Ozotic Pro makes some beautiful glitters in their Elytra line. I have long dreamed of having one of those glitters, but frankly it just is not in the college girl's budget. Luckily, I found a 99¢ Sally Girl glitter that reminds me a lot of the Elytra line!

This glitter polish is called Way 2 Disco, and it has beautiful duochrome glitters that shift from green to blueish purple. Here I am wearing 1 coats of Sally Girl Way 2 Disco over 2 coats of China Glaze Urban-Night.

I am also super happy with the application of Urban-Night.  It was so easy to apply, and I did not even need to do any clean-up. That makes me a happy camper!

I am very happy with this look. The glitter was gorgeous, and I totally failed at capturing it's true beauty. It's amazing the lovely polishes you can find, even for only 99¢!

- Aly

Pink, Neon, and Rhinestones - Oh My!

Today's look is a super bright, in-your-face, blingy manicure. I did this a couple days ago for a sorority event, because I wanted something fun on my nails to brighten up my black dress. This is definitely the kind of manicure that commands attention!

I am wearing 2 coats of Mattése Elite Rei Momo, which I recently reviewed. After that was dry, I put a line of Seche Vite down the center of my nails, one at a time. Then I placed clear rhinestones from Born Pretty in a straight line. Of course, I topped it all off with a nice even coat of Seche Vite.

Mattése Elite Rei Momo is actually blindingly bright in real life! I think my camera had trouble capturing it, so it pulls a bit red in these shots. Imagine it closer to bottle color and searing your eyeballs! 

Click for a closer look!

This look is pretty loud and crazy, but I think the rhinestones are so gorgeous. As far as gaudy nails go, these are pretty classy IMO. I really enjoyed wearing rhinestones like this! I used a lot of rhinestones for this mani, but luckily they are very cheap! I think I paid about $3.50 for a whole wheel full of them.

What do you think of this look?

- Aly