Nubar 2010

I'm not sure where I first saw Nubar 2010, but as soon as I saw it I knew I HAD to have it.  I added it to my wish list, and the next time I ordered from Amazon I added it to my cart.

I was so excited when it arrived!  The first time I wore it, I put it on over a deepish red - Sally Hansen No Chip 10  Day Color in Endless Claret.  I was slightly disappointed by my choice at first because the Nubar didn't stand out as much as I'd hoped.  But when I went out in the sunlight the next day, it popped!

Love!

The second time I wore it I did a little Google search to look for ideas, and saw it over some blues and purples.  I decided to go with a really dark shimmery purple - OPI Russian Navy.

It really stood out!  I even got a shot of the range of colors - the flakes really morph between red, yellow, and green.

I recently wore it on it's own, which can also be cool for a bit of quick sparkle if you don't feel like doing a whole manicure.

I love the look of flaky holos, and I am totally coveting the Finger Paints Special Effects Collection that came out in Winter of last year.  

Another Capitol Colours Mani

Today I have another Hunger Games inspired mani using the China Glaze Capitol Colours collection.

First I want to share with you one of my very favorite polishes of all time, Stone Cold.  It is a gorgeous soft charcoal matte, I am totally in love with it.  It's unique and sophisticated and just beautiful.

So pretty, but I wanted something fancy.  I decided to do a french tip and I hadn't tried out Luxe and Lush yet, so I decided to do some flaky glittery tips.

I liked how it turned out, but to be honest I'm not a huge fan of the type of flaky glitter in Luxe and Lush.  It doesn't lie flat, and I don't have a glitter tamer, so even with a coat of Seche Vite over top , it was catching on things.  I think with this type of polish it really needs a couple of topcoats at the least.  It is pretty for sure, but I also just hate removing glitter polishes, especially ones with large chunks.  Oh well, I guess it's worth it for the prettiness!  I hope you like this one, and that you got to enjoy the Hunger Games this weekend if you are a fan like me!

Rose Gold Mani

My current manicure is a rosy pink with gold flakes.  I had originally gone for a dark grey with a shimmer coat, but looking at it, I found that I really wanted something a lot lighter.  I actually found myself craving some sort of pastel green, purple, blue or pink cream, but I found I didn't really have any of those.  I picked up a couple at the drug store yesterday, so I'll try one out soon.  

In the meantime, I settled for this pink.  I used Maybelline Wet Shine in Wine Shine, an old polish that I've had forever, and it was ready to be trashed.  I don't even remember the last time it was opened. The brush was losing hairs everywhere, and the polish was thick and goopy.  Luckily it only took one coat to fully cover.  I topped it with one coat of Wet n Wild fastdry in The Gold & The Beautiful.  This glitter polish is really dense, and I didn't know if I liked it when I first put it on.  After topping it with a coat of Essie Matte About You, I was pleased with the results.

The polishes in their bottles:

I LOVE the Matte About You top coat.  I love experimenting with matte polishes, and being able to turn any of my polishes into a matte is so much fun!

Here's a close up shot of the polish - you can see that even though the gold looks like glitter in the bottle, it's actually really flakey.