NOTD: Full Nail Fauxnad

Elf Desert Haze as the base and Elf Smoky Brown using plate BM19. I really like how these colours look together. The photos don't do it justice. I'm still learning to do full nail stamps. They don't all line up exactly and there always seems to be a little bit of nail showing at one edge.

I love getting mail...

My fauxnad plates from Bundle Monster came today! I wasn't expecting them for another week so it was a nice surprise this morning. The set of 21 plates is only $17.99 (plus shipping). There's a total of 139 images and a lot of variety in the set, with flowers, French tips, full nail patterns, animals, Hallowe'en, Christmas, and so many more. Even a C.N. Tower! I don't know what to choose first.

Review: Elf Eyeliner & Shadow Stick

Before I start, let me preface this review by saying I've only used this a couple times so it's more of a first impression than an in-depth review.

That said, I'm really not a fan of this product. I bought the Eyeliner & Shadow Stick ($3) mostly for days that I'm running late or to throw in my purse so I can do make-up quickly with as few products as possible. 

Well, the liner goes on fairly smoothly. The eyeshadow, on the other hand, is hard to blend and ends up looking splotchy. And it smudges and creases easily. Today, it lasted about five minutes before creasing so I fixed it then tried to set it with transparent powder. That helped only the slightest bit. 

For anyone that reads this blog often, you know I generally love elf products, but for now this one is definitely a miss for me. If anyone does have any tips to make the shadow work, let me know. I've tried with and without primer and neither way is working for me. I'll definitely give it another shot, but for now, I'd have to say pass on this.

NOTD: Pink and Black Hearts ... And another thing

Elf Black over Claire's Fire

Obviously, this is before cleanup, so I apologize for that. I really like how this came out. After a matte top coat, the hearts looked like I had drawn them on with a fine-tip marker. The contrast between the two colours meant everyone noticed the design and was curious how I did it.

Anyway, unrelated to nail polish, I haven't been posting EOTDs much lately. My makeup hasn't been very exciting. Part of the reason is I just don't like heavy eyeshadow when it's so hot out. But I also just haven't been feeling very inspired, so if anyone has any suggestions or requests, let me know and I'll do a look for that.

Mirror Image Nail Stamps

I just wanted to share this quick tip from Konaddict on how to stamp mirror images on your nails. Basically, it just involves stamping from one stamper to another, then onto your nails. I'll do some NOTDs with this as soon as I can order a second stamper.

Butterflies in my Stomach...And On My Nails

Another fauxnad today. This time it's SH Marine Scene butterflies over Elf Mint Cream.

I was a little iffy about this colour combination at first but I think it worked out pretty well. Unfortunately, I did the butterflies upside down. So, here's what they should look like:

Nail Polish Inventory

Since I have so many nail polishes swatched already with lots more to do, I figured I'd put together an inventory list so it's easy to find what you're looking for. I'll also link to this in the sidebar and update it as I swatch/buy more polishes. If there's a colour you want swatched, leave a comment so I know which colours to do first.

AVON

Cantaloupe

Mambo Melon

CHINA GLAZE

Dorothy Who? swatch

Fairy Dust
Spontaneous

CLAIRE'S

Fire swatch

Love Struck swatch

ELF

Black

Champagne

Cranberry

Desert Haze swatch

Hot Pink

Innocent swatch

Light Pink

Lilac swatch

Mint Cream swatch

Mod Mauve swatch

Nude
Passion Pink

Purple Pleaser

Red Velvet

Smoky Brown swatch

KLEANCOLOR

Aurora swatch

Blue Pearl swatch

Mocha swatch

Orly
Viridian Vinyl swatch

REVLON

Gum Drop swatch

Lilac Pastelle

Peach Petal NOTD

SALLY HANSEN COMPLETE SALON MANICURE

Hidden Treasure

SALLY HANSEN HARD AS NAILS NYLON

Rave Review

SALLY HANSEN HARD AS NAILS XTREME WEAR

Black Out swatch

Blue It swatch

Blue Me Away swatch

Caribbean Coral swatch

Celeb City swatch

Cherry Red swatch

Chocolate Nut

Concrete
Crushed swatch

Deep Purple swatch

Disco Ball swatch

Emerald City swatch

Fashionista Orange swatch

Flirt swatch

Fuchsia Power swatch

Going Green swatch

Green with Envy swatch

Gunmetal swatch

Hot Magenta swatch

Ivy League swatch

Lime Lights swatch

Marine Scene swatch

Mellow Yellow swatch

Ocean View swatch

Pacific Blue swatch

Plum Power swatch

Purple Gala
Purple Potion swatch

Red Carpet swatch

Rockstar Pink swatch

Shooting Star swatch

So Sexy Red swatch

Strobe Light swatch

Sun Kissed swatch

Twisted Pink swatch

VIP Pink swatch

Virtual Violet swatch

SALLY HANSEN HD

Laser

SALLY HANSEN NEW LENGTHS CERAMICS

City Lights

Divine Purple review

Glow in the Dark

Pink Pearl

Pink Sapphire

SALLY HANSEN NO CHIP 10 DAY

Plum Pretty

WET N WILD WILD SHINE

Blue Moon
Caribbean Frost
Dreamy Poppy

French White Creme
Frosted Fuchsia swatch

Kaleidoscope

Lavender Creme

Lavender Pearlescent

Metallic
Tickled Pink

Wild Card

NOTD: Fauxnad-icure

I love the look of Konad images on nails but there was no way I could justify paying $6.99 for one image plate, not even including a stamp and scraper. So, I found a knock-off on ebay for under $8 (including shipping) that had six image plates, a stamper, and scraper. All for the price of one Konad plate! 

Anyway, I've been experimenting with different combinations of colours and some polishes definitely work better for stamping than others. (I'm not about to pay extra for special polishes.) Since I couldn't find my charger I haven't been able to take pictures of my NOTDs for a few days, but I finally have batteries in my camera, so here is my first "fauxnad-cure" to show you.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blue It over Virtual Violet. I unashamedly stole this colour combo from Susie because I loved her Konadicure over Gum Drop. Check it out here.

Elf Matte Finisher

As you all know, I love matte nail polishes. So, when ELF released their Matte Finisher, I could barely wait for a good sale so I could try it out. Well, I tried swatching it over a couple colours today and I have to admit I'm a little nervous. As it started to dry, it turned the black creme an opaque white. Eek. Now, a few minutes later, it's looking a little less cloudy and it's definitely matte, but the colour is quite a bit duller. I had high hopes for this top coat so I bought three bottles. Fingers crossed that it looks better when it's completely dry. I'll update this in a bit to let you all know. And I'll have swatch photos as soon as I can charge my camera batteries. I lost the charger some time after my vacation. I know it's in the house, but no clue where.

Edit: The matte top coat is completely dry now. Most of the white finish cleared up, though there are a couple spots (which I've noticed with other mattes also). Overall, this top coat worked out fairly well. So, don't panic when you first try. Once I do a mani with this, I'll tell you all how it wears.

Huge Elf Haul

My ELF order from their 60% off sale came today. I hadn't realized just how big an order it was but I definitely took advantage of the discount. For around $45 (including shipping) I got 46 items. I know that sounds like way too much but in my defense I split the order with my sister. (She bought 14 items.)

So, what did I get?

Vanilla Coconut Body Lotion, Hand Soap, and Hand Sanitizer-I've tried this scent out a couple times before and it smells absolutely delicious. I already have the hand cream and shower gel.

Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Ash-Just by swatching this on my hand, it looks promising. It went on smoothly but it might take some getting used to before I can do nice lines.

Therapeutic Conditioning Balm in Vanilla Creme-I've tried the strawberry before and liked it so hopefully this one is similar. It doesn't seem to have any vanilla scent though.

Liquid Eye Liner in Silver-I realized this morning that I already have silver. Oops. I guess that might mean I have too much make up. Anyway, I think I meant to get Ash. I'll put this one away until I need it, or maybe pass it on to someone that wants it.

Shine Eraser Sheets-I love these blotting papers. They work well and cost so much less than other brands.

Eye Widener-This pencil is really creamy and drew smoothly on my hand. I'll have to try it out on my eyes to see if it smudges though. I'm not really a fan of the sharpener on the cap.

Nourishing Cuticle Pen

Lip Primer & Plumper

Eyeliner & Shadow Stick in Plum/Purple and Green/Moss-If these work, it'll be handy for quick makeup when I'm in a rush. I'll give them a shot and have a review up soon.

Lip Stain in Mysterious and First Date-Mysterious seems much darker in person and without trying it on, I don't think I can pull off this shade of brown. But First Date is a shimmery pink-coral that I already love.

Eyebrow Lifter & Filler-I had a hard time choosing the right shade for this. My eyebrows are natural almost black but my hair is much lighter (ginger right now but naturally auburn). So I chose dark but I think that might not even be dark enough.

Concealer Pencil & Brush-The formula on this concealer feels a little weird, almost waxy. I've never used a pencil concealer before so maybe that is normal. But, seriously, not a fan of the sharpeners on all the caps.

Mineral Lipstick in Natural Nymph and Nicely Nude

Kabuki Face Brush

Cream Eyeliner in Ivory

Lip Balm SPF 15

Dual Pencil Sharpener

Complexion Perfection-I actually bought two of these as backup for the one I'm using now. 

Matte Top Coat-Not gonna lie, I bought three bottles. I love matte nails and it's not very easy to find matte top coat (especially for 40 cents a bottle). So, hopefully, this isn't a bust.

And last but not least, I indulged my nail polish addiction with six new colours:

Cranberry: shimmery dark red

Hot Pink: dark, bright pink. I might be able to cross an item off my wish list with this colour.

Champagne: shimmery light peachy brown

Red Velvet: shimmery dark red, but lighter than Cranberry and more of a true red

Purple Pleaser: grape creme. Considering how many purples I have,it's surprising I don't have one like this.

I also ordered Passion Pink. But what came in my order says Mango Madness on the box and the bottle. I specifically didn't order Mango Madness because I am fully aware that even though I love corals, I have too many that I just don't wear. The colour in the bottle, however, looks much more like Passion Pink than Mango Madness does on their site so I can't be sure what colour it really is but it's a gorgeous bright pink with gold shimmer that I can't wait to wear.

Did anyone else order during this sale? I'd love to see your hauls.

Huge Giveaway: Last Day to Enter

Babbling Brooke is having a giveaway to celebrate her 2nd anniversary of her blog. There's lots of prizes so be sure to enter. Sorry for the last minuter notice but the giveaway ends tomorrow (July 14).  In total, she has 42 nail polishes for a total of ten winners.

Sleek Palette Giveaway

Simone at Give the Jew Girl Toys is celebrating 50+ followers now with a giveaway. The prize is a Sleek Limited Edition Circus Palette, which she swatched and reviewed here. Some of the colours look really amazing, so enter now. And be sure to check out her blog. She does gorgeous EOTDs.

Photo from http://givethejewgirltoys.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Meg's Makeup

My free gift came this week from Meg's Makeup. For any of you not yet familiar with this website, it's a great place to read beauty reviews and to contribute your own ratings and opinions for products. Click here to check it out Anyway, the really cool thing is that you accumulate points based on your activity on the site, which you can redeem for a gift. There are three prize levels, but, not being able to wait, I jumped at the chance to receive a gift for the lowest point level. So, what did I get? Napoleon Perdis Protégé Lip Gloss. It's a really pretty peachy coral colour. I haven't tried it out yet but I'll have a review coming up soon.

Hurry! Elf 60% Off Sale

Elf has a coupon code today only until 6pm for 60% off everything. Yep! Sixty. Minimum purchase is $25 but after the discount, you only pay $10 plus if you use paypal shipping is only $6.95.

This is a great chance to try out their new nail polish colours, stock up on the basics, or pick up good quality brushes for a little over a buck.

I'll definitely make use of this sale and I'll post my purchases when they arrive. 

What are you planning on buying? 

Just a heads up: I've always used Paypal to order elf. Now, you have to have a credit card linked to your Paypal account.  It's a hassle for anyone who does not have a credit card, but you might be able to use a prepaid credit card.

NOTD: Two-for-one Blue Glitters

Today's NOTD is a twofer. I hate wearing the same nail polish two days in a row, so a lot of times when I'm feeling lazy, I'll either add a coat of glitter or go from matte to glossy or vice versa to change it up without actually removing my polish and starting from scratch. I did this last week but of course forgot to take pictures before it was too late so I recreated the look to photograph. I have to apologize for the photos; glitters are always hard to photograph and these colours in particular were no exception.

I started off with China Glaze Dorothy Who? with a matte top coat. I absolutely love this colour. It's beautiful with a shiny finish but the matte top coat adds something extra that completely puts it over the top for me.

The next day I added a coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Shooting Star to add even more glitter. Left is with flash; right, without. I find Shooting Star a little boring on it's own but layering it over dark blues seems to bring out the best in this polish.

Do you ever double up on your manicures to get an extra day? What are your favourite combinations?

NOTD: Cherry Red

I'm sorry for not posting lately. I was on vacation for a bit (more on that later) and since I got back, I've slowly been getting back into things. But I'm hoping to make up for it this week with lots of looks and reviews. So, to start things off, today's nails are Sally Hansen Extreme Wear in Cherry Red with matte top coat.  I wanted something red for Canada Day but a glossy red creme seemed too obvious. The matte finish adds just a little something special. Photo is with flash.

How did everyone else celebrate Canada Day? Or, for American readers, any special plans for the weekend? We ended up going to the city's celebration. I overdosed on cotton candy and the fireworks weren't anything special but it was fun anyway.