Halloween Spiders and Last Day for Giveaway!

Happy Halloween!!  I hope you all have some fabulously spooky plans for tonight!  LO and I will be going trick or treating with her dressed up in her Jedi Knight costume.  May the Force be with us!

We have a winner for the Hobby Polish Bloggers raffle - the winner is Kenya Charone Johnson!!

I didn't really get a chance to do a final Halloween Nail art mani but I do have a extend a mani with spiders over my Sation Men Are From Mars mani that I posted a few days ago.  The red dots didn't work out too well, but you get the idea!  Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Halloween Spiders

Halloween Spiders

Rimmel Black Satin with L'Oréal The Bigger The Better And Halloween Nail Art

PurchasedPress Sample

I'm still going strong with Halloween themed manis and today's mani starts with Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Black Satin.  I don't think I've ever tried this line of polish before and I have to admit I was skeptical, especially with a black polish as my introduction.  I anticipated some streaking and patchiness, but fortunately I did not experience either.  I used two coats here and got complete coverage.  The brush was my only difficulty in that it was a super wide brush.  My skinny nails no likey that.  I was impressed at the super glossy finish once it dried. No topcoat here.  Currently, via Nouveau Cheap, this line may be phasing out of the Rimmel collection so grab them quick!  I know they're marked down at Walgreens currently.

Rimmel Black Satin

Rimmel Black Satin

Rimmel Black Satin

Rimmel Black Satin

Rimmel Black Satin

Next to give it some bling, I added a layer of L'Oréal The Bigger The Better a black jelly base with silver microglitter.  I'm not sure if this was a limited edition or part of the core line.  I used two coats here and it dried slightly gritty and matte.  I used a thick layer of topcoat to add shine.

L'Oréal The Bigger The Better

L'Oréal The Bigger The Better

L'Oréal The Bigger The Better

L'Oréal The Bigger The Better

Remember how I loved the googly eyes in my mummy watermarble? Well I decided to try them again with an eyes in the dark themed mani.  I think I may have gone a little overboard with them. I did them with topcoat and then later applied a layer of Essie Matte About You.

Googly Eye Halloween Nail Art

Googly Eye Halloween Nail Art

Googly Eye Halloween Nail Art

Googly Eye Halloween Nail Art

I still think the eyes are cute despite being a crowd of whatever they are in the night.  I'm not sure if they're little creatures with sharp little teeth or cute little fluffy bunnies.   Just remember, they're watching you!!

PurchasedPress Sample

Claire's Cosmetics Poison Apple Swatch And Review

Purchased

Hi de ho! Is another Monday(already) and to start the week I have an oldie but goodie for you.  This is Claire's Poison Apple, a foil like duochrome that shifts from burgundy to gold.  I picked this up a couple years ago at the Claire's Outlet by my parents and subsequently lost it in my stash.  I came across it recently and thought the name would coincide perfectly with Halloween.  I used three thin coats here and although formula was good, it dried too quickly during application and I kept getting bald spots at the base of my nails.  Hopefully the third coat remedied that problem.  I finished with a layer of topcoat.

Claire's Cosmetics Poison Apple Swatch And Review

Claire's Cosmetics Poison Apple Swatch And Review

Claire's Cosmetics Poison Apple Swatch And Review

Claire's Cosmetics Poison Apple Swatch And Review

Claire's Cosmetics Poison Apple Swatch And Review

Claire's Cosmetics Poison Apple Swatch And Review

This doesn't appear as duochrome as I had hoped. Sad face.  Don't get me wrong, the gold is visible in the macro shot, I only wish that it was stronger.  I heard this was a dupe for MAC Bad Fairy but it's too late tonight for me to swatch both together.  Have you tried both of these? Any other similar shades out there?

Purchased

Halloween Blood Watermarble Nails With Bettina Julietta And LA Spash Red Sea

Another Sunday Funday for all! I hope you you're enjoying the rest of your weekend.  Any spooky pre Halloween plans today? I'm doing some regular weekend cleaning and then later heading down to the OC to pick up my dad.  I may or may not stop at the nail supply...  Afterwards, we plan on resting up for the work week!

Last year I did only one Halloween nail art post and that was a bloody splatter mani that was clearly my newbie attempt at nail art. I'm still no expert but I've definitely picked up some trick such as watermarbling.  I plan on using that technique today to bring you an updated version of that original bloody manicure.  I used Bettina Julietta as my nude and LA Splash Red Sea as my blood to do a basic watermarble.  Of note, the Bettina had easy and opaque coverage when I used a layer of it as my base color.  This is finished with some accent dotting and topcoat.

Halloween Blood Watermarble Nails With Bettina Julietta And LA Spash Red Sea

Halloween Blood Watermarble Nails With Bettina Julietta And LA Spash Red Sea

Halloween Blood Watermarble Nails With Bettina Julietta And LA Spash Red Sea

Halloween Blood Watermarble Nails With Bettina Julietta And LA Spash Red Sea

Halloween Blood Watermarble Nails With Bettina Julietta And LA Spash Red Sea

This still has a bloody appearance to it but with some extra artistic eye appeal.  The only downside is that it doesn't have as much drama as a splatter mani.  Instead it has a subdued gory effect.  Of the two styles, which do you prefer?

Sation Men Are From Mars Swatch And Review

Purchased

Whew, it's Saturday and I'm hoping that you're having a wonderful day so far!  My dad is visiting this weekend and we'll get to hang out with him while he plays with LO.  I'm looking forward to taking him out to dinner for his birthday at our favorite Japanese restaurant.

Today's swatch is a polish that I picked up unexpectedly at one of my favorite nail supply stores.  I always browse the Sation rack but lately I haven't seen any unusual shade until my last visit.  It's called Men Are From Mars, and it's a purple to grey duochrome with green flash.  Formula was fluid and easy to apply but take care because brush strokes can appear.  I used two coats here and finished with a layer of topcoat.

Sation Men Are From Mars

Sation Men Are From Mars

Sation Men Are From Mars

Sation Men Are From Mars

Sation Men Are From Mars

Sation Men Are From Mars

It was hard to capture the green but it's definitely there.  For a $3 polish, I really can't complain.  The duochrome nature is similar to Zoya Adina or Wet N Wild Grey's Anatomy but more opaque.  My budding nail artist within is screaming to do some black stamping over it but I'm going to restrain myself for now.  I'll have to think of something Halloween-y but quick.  Any ideas?

Purchased

Halloween Watermarble Mummies Nail Art

Howdy howdy!  It's Friday and I'm happy because I ordered two dozen faux cronuts at a nearby bakery to take into my office.  They'll probably cost me close to a $100, but I feel like the staff needs a pick me up, and not to mention faux cronuts are ah-may-zing.  I had one the other day while on a business meeting and I couldn't believe the light fluffy crispiness and decadent toppings could come together to become the perfect creation of a faux cronut.  Pardon me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

Anyhoo, for today I had the golden minute of some peace and quiet while LO was napping to do some watermarbling.  I've been hankering to recreate some mummies for Halloween so I grabbed my Wet N Wild French White cream and Barry M Grey and started dropping away onto the water.  The marbling went fairly easy and I think the grey worked out pretty well for the shading of the bands.  I finished the eyes with my trusty dotting tool and Wet N Wild black creme.

Halloween Watermarble Mummies Nail Art

Halloween Watermarble Mummies Nail Art

Halloween Watermarble Mummies Nail Art

Halloween Watermarble Mummies Nail Art

Halloween Watermarble Mummies Nail Art

I can't help but smile every time I see those googly eyes, they're so goofy!  I think that's why I wanted to recreate them.  Cheers to the one who came up with this idea!  I wish I was creative enough to think of it.  Maybe I'll take a spin off the idea and create something else with cute googly eyes.  Have you done any Halloween nail art yet?

Orly Purple Poodle Over CND Eclectic Purple Swatch And Review

Happy hump day! Yesterday was a tough day for me in that I had to resolve three incidents at work and subsequently report them to the higher ups. I had such a headache! Hopefully today will go quicker because I have a lunch meeting off site and then I'm done for the day.  I plan on spending as much time as I can playing with LO and helping her practice walking.

For today's post I was feeling purple and so I started with a new to me brand CND Eclectic Purple.  It's a lush medium shade of voilet purple that applied flawlessly in nearly one coat. It was flawless in that there was zero streaking or patchiness during application and it completely self leveled on its own.  I used two coats here but only one coat on the other hand. No topcoat here in these pics.

CND Eclectic Purple

CND Eclectic Purple

CND Eclectic Purple

CND Eclectic Purple

CND Eclectic Purple

Next I layered Orly Purple Poodle, a sparkling wonderland of purple jelly infused with blue shimmer and microglitter.  This totally brings the mani to a totally different level of awesomeness. What can be better than purple with blue shimmer from heaven?? I used two coats here and the jelly didn't steak over Eclectic Purple and covered it fully.  This is finished with NYC GCS.

Orly Purple Poodle

Orly Purple Poodle

Orly Purple Poodle

Orly Purple Poodle

Orly Purple Poodle

Orly Purple Poodle

Look at that purple perfection!!  There's a lovely glow from within quality that is imparted by Purple Poodle over the already amazing on its own Eclectic Purple.  Call it the Eclectic Purple Poodle.  Needless to say I'm mighty pleased by this combo.  Have you tried either of these polished yet? What's your current favorite layering combo?

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck Swatch And Review With Blood Drip Nail Art

Purchased

Good morning loves!  It's still warm here in LA so it doesn't quite feel like fall has taken into full effect yet, but if it's like past years, we'll skip fall and go straight into winter which is shorter days and cold nights.  I'm not looking forward to our rainy season either - I always worry that the roof will leak!  Aside from roof worries, I find that I've been trying to keep up with the clothing trends this season, which I totally have slacked in the past year because of the pregnancy and weight gain.  Have you been bustling up with your fall wardrobe?  What fall staples have you added for this season? 

I've got an exciting post for you today, and that's another Enchanted Polish LE called Vampire Sucks.  With a name like that, you know that I couldn't resist trying to capture this elusive beauty during the last restock.  This being the only polish on my wishlist, it wasn't too difficult to get it when the site went live.  Upon arrival, I was delighted to see that the traditional white box Enchanted Polish was replaced with a black box, perfect for this Halloween beauty.  As you'll see, this is a gorgeous brown super strong holo that flashes teal and gold to give it a true oil slick appearance.  It's really mesmerizing to watch the holo rainbows flash across the nail.  Formula was stellar, and probably the best that I've seen from all the Enchanteds I've tried to date.  It flowed effortlessly onto the nail with no pooling or streaking and was nearly opaque in one coat.  I used two coats here with no topcoat.

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck

 Gah, that teal flash is killer!  I adore this holo more than anything I have in my holo drawer of polishes.  I'm so glad that I beelined to this polish during the last restock.  I don't have any brown holos and I'm a sucker(no pun intended) for dark holos.  Love this so hard!

Next to make this a holiday themed mani, I added some blood drips to the tips with L'Oreal Breaking Curfew, a deep dark brownish red creme with the perfect name to go with this vampirish mani.  I used my largest dotting tool to create the drips and then to connect them together along the tips.

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck With Blood Drip Nail Art

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck With Blood Drip Nail Art

Enchanted Polish Vampire Suck With Blood Drip Nail Art

How perfectly vampy is this mani?  I love how the creme contrasts with the holo of Vampire Sucks.  I definitely plan on getting lots of wear with this gorgeous brown holo in the future.  Enchanted hit this one out of the park, and if you're lucky, she'll restock this one again -  I hope!  What's you're favorite holo of all time?

Purchased