Aly Loves Lacquer

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it! For me, Christmas is all about family and loved ones, gifting and receiving, and relaxing. Of course, my version of relaxing includes painting my nails, so I put this mani together to get myself in the Christmas mood!

This mani is entirely SinfulColors. I rummaged through my collection and picked SinfulColors Sugar Sugar as my base. It was in my untrieds, but it won't go unworn anymore. It is a vibrant red with gold shimmer and teeny tiny flakes of gold. SinfulColors Sugar Sugar is also a one-coater on me! On top of Sugar Sugar are two coats of SinfulColors Holiday Rebel, which just recently came out. Holiday Rebel is made up of green micro glitter, red hexes, and silver holo hexes. Oh, and it is beautiful. Take a look!

Hi!

After wearing OPI Isn't That Precious?, a classic sheer pink, I wanted to spice up my mani with some glitter. Enter Pahlish Glittoris, a gorgeous clear-based glitter with pink and red glitter in all shapes and sizes. Glittoris is one of my favorite indie polishes to date. I love the scattered disco glitter and the beautiful girly look it creates. To make the gradient smoother, I dabbed a bit of Essie Splash of Grenadine under Pahlish Glittoris.

As you can see, OPI Isn't That Precious? pulls very neutral on me. I still think it is a beautiful classic polish though. The jelly finish and the light pink look very professional. But of course, I am not one to wear "classic" shades for very long! I really love the finished look of Isn't That Precious? and Pahlish Glittoris combined. Plus, I am a sucker for the name; it's just so ridiculous.

How do you like to spruce up a days-old mani?

- Aly

Hi, guys!

I was approached by a lovely rep for Mani Diaries, a new iPhone app that lets users share their manis and nail art. I love the idea of the app -- it's smart and seems like it'd be a great distraction from my homework ;) Here's a screencap of how the app looks! It's very clean and has tons of beautiful manis!



If you're interested, you can download it now from the Apple App store HERE.

Mani Diaries is also sponsoring a great giveaway that I thought you'd like to see! They are giving away an LVX Holiday Trio seen below!

Here's another post for the Mish Mash Nail Challenge. The last one I did was quite a while ago, but I am back in the saddle.

This week's theme is nail stamping. Stamping is actually one of the first nail art techniques I learned. It's simple and can create some stunning results. Sadly, the evil nail monster seems to have stolen my nail polish remover. I couldn't find it anywhere last night, making it impossible to clean the plate between stamps. Because of this, my stamps aren't as clear as I'd like. Despite that, I love the look!

My base color is Revlon Fashionista. (If you're a teal fan like me, take a look at my comparison with Essie Go Overboard HERE.) Fashionista has an easy formula and great coverage in two thin coats.
Then I applied a coat of NYX Girls 161. I'm not sure why, but my bottle has no other name. (EDIT: It's called Maven! Thanks, Simona!) It's a slightly tinted blue base with pretty blue green glitters. I stamped with Bundle Monster 79 and Finger Paints Black Expressionism.




There you have it! This manicure is very mermaid-esque in my eyes. I like that, though! It makes the cold weather a bit more fun!

Make sure to check out all the other great Mish Mash Challenge manis below.

- Aly

Hello! I have a simple swatch from Essie Resort 2013 for you all today.

Hello, again!

As promised, here is another beauty from Avon's Cosmic collection. Avon Galaxy is a gorgeous rich medium blue scattered holographic polish. What really makes this shade stand out is the brightness. This is a very pigmented blue, not the same baby blue holographic shade we've all seen again and again. Avon Galaxy is unique and really commands attention!

Here I am wearing 2 coats of Avon Galaxy. As with Avon Aurora, you have to be patient between coats. If you aren't, you'll definitely encounter some dragging. But, it's pretty easy to be patient when the outcome is such a gorgeous look!