Foil Gradient with Liquid Palisade

Hi!  Today I've got a super cool product to show you; it's called Liquid Palisade, and the premise that it basically acts as painter's tape for your nails!

Liquid Palisade comes in a lip-gloss-sized tube with a small brush.  You paint it on as a liquid, and it quickly dries to a rubbery-latex film that you simply peel off after painting for a speedy clean-up!   

I have actually used this product a few times already, mostly for gradients (like the one in Friday's post) since I love them, but hate the cleanup!  When Sarah from Chalkboard Nails posted this gorgeous foil gradient last week and mentioned the tedious clean-up, I knew that would be the perfect test for this!  

I started with a base of OPI A Woman's Prague-ative, which you can see swatched here.  I then painted the liquid palisade around my nails and let it dry, covering quite a large surface since gradients tend to make a huge mess.  After sponging on my gradient with Zoya Ziv, I peeled off the liquid palisade with a pair of tweezers.  I finished the clean-up with some acetone and a makeup brush, as per usual, but the small amount that I had to do was nowhere near as much as I would have had to clean up, had I not used the liquid palisade! 

There are other uses for liquid palisade too, a few of which you can see in Wacky Laki's post here.  I'm interested to see how it works with watermarbling; imagine how awesome it would be if this worked!!  

Liquid Palisade currently retails here for $22/bottle; it may seem pricey, but one bottle contains enough product for over 50 manicures.   

Honestly, my only problem with this product is that the bottle is super tall and skinny, making it very unstable; I felt like I was going to knock it over every time I dipped the brush in.  Uh-oh!  Luckily there were no casualties, so you'll definitely be hearing about this again from me!   What is your impression of liquid palisade?  Have you tried it yet?  If not, do you plan to?  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review and my honest opinion.

piCture pOlish: Fairy Floss

Although I do have dance today, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the long weekend!  We're going down to the US for some shopping, so all this weekend's posts will be scheduled.  Depending on my internet access, I'll hopefully still be able to reply to comments and emails as normal.  :)  

Anywho, it's been a while since I showed you a piCture pOlish shade, but I have one today to share!  You can see all my previous piCture pOlish swatches and reviews here. 

This is a beautiful cotton-candy pink creme, appropriately named Fairy Floss.  You're seeing two perfect easy coats, with one coat of Seche Vite.  

I've actually ended up using this colour way more than I thought I would when I got it a few months ago; it's not my usual type of colour but it's really grown on me!  It's a perfect light-but-bright pink that is super flattering and doesn't look too Barbie-ish.  It's made it's way into a ton of my nail art!  

piCture pOlish is available at picturepolish.com.au as well as through lots of other network members around the world. Check out the Network for a full list. 

I'd say that if you're on the hunt for a perfect light pink polish, this could be what you've been looking for!  What do you think of Fairy Floss?  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review and my honest opinion. 

Spring Cartoon Skittlette

I recently got some super cute nail wraps from the Born Pretty Store in the mail;  I had forgotten that I'd ordered them (shipping from China can take a while) so it was a lovely surprise!  

When I saw them, I just had to do a skittlette mani centered around them!  Here's what I came up with...  

Excuse the awkward claw, but I had to show all five fingers in one photo!  This whole look was just too adorable, and one of my favourites in a long time!  

The water decals can be found here, I used pattern #16.  I applied the decals over OPI My Vampire Is Buff, since they aren't quite opaque alone.  They're topped off with some Seche Vite for a lovely smooth finish! 

My index finger is a gradient of LaCC 1950 (darker pink) and 1957 (lighter pink); these colours blend so well together!  My pinky is LaCC 1968 with polka-dots in OPI My Vampire Is Buff. 

My thumb is a beautiful glitter gradient over LaCC 1968 with the stunning A England She Walks In Beauty.  Every time I pull this polish out, I find that I'd forgotten how absolutely breathtaking it is!  :)

Oops, I turned all the cute people-things upside-down.  

I really loved wearing this mani; I was so mad at myself for putting it on the day before a performance, because I really didn't want to take it off!  I got a lot of compliments while wearing it, and my sister ventured so far as to say that it was her favourite of all the nail art looks I've ever done!!  :P

What do you think of this skittlette look?  Are you as crazy about it as I am?  :)

NCLA Nail Wraps Review: Aly En Vogue

Nail Polish Canada recently started carrying the NCLA Nail Wraps; I'd had my eye on these wraps for a while, so when I got an email asking if I'd like to review them when they got their first shipment, I couldn't say no!

I got to choose two designs, and I have one of them for you today.  This design is called Aly En Vogue, and is super pretty!  Since I think that all-over patterns can sometimes be a bit much (and to extend the life of the packages of wraps) I prefer to use them as accent nails, which is what I chose to do with these!

Although it's not visible in the listing for these wraps, you can see in my first photo that the wraps come in two different colours: a pinky peach and a light eggshell yellow/nude.  I used two of the peach-coloured wraps on my accent nails, and my other nails are three coats of Orly Prelude To A Kiss with BornPretty Store studs. 

Along with the wraps, each package comes with a set of instructions and a nail file.  These wraps were very easy to use: choose the size that best fits your nail, peel off, place on your nail, stretch and rub to remove any air bubbles or wrinkles, file off the excess at the edge, and top coat.  The great thing about these is that if you don't get it on the first try, you can quickly remove it and try again.  They were pretty stretchy, and it was super easy to get the completely smooth finish that I've been missing from other brands of wraps.  In case I'm making no sense, ChrissyAi posted a video on applying these wraps! 

I topped them with one coat of LaCC 2013 top coat, and then added a coat of Seche Vite right before photos for a perfectly shiny finish.  These lasted for two whole days (through two showers, doing dishes, and multiple dance classes) with no signs of wear or any lifting.  I'm sure they would have lasted longer, but I had lots of swatching to do and therefore had to remove them.   

Honestly, my only problem with these wraps is that the designs aren't centered.  Despite how pretty this design is, if you're as OCD as I am, I'd choose a design that doesn't need to be centered.  They've got plenty to choose from!  

NCLA Nail Wraps are now available for purchase through Nail Polish Canada for $16CAD per set of wraps; you can find this specific set here.  To see the whole selection offered by NPC, clicky here.  With 40 individual wraps in one set, you'll get a lot of manis, especially if you use them as accent nails!  

What do you think of these wraps?  I've tried quite a few brands of wraps now, and these have definitely hopped to the top of my list!  :)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were provided for review and my honest opinion.  

Coco Allure Swatch Spam

Good morning!  I know I just did a swatch spam post yesterday, but today I've got a HUGE post for you!! I've had all of these Coco Allure swatch photos lying in a folder unpublished, but since Llarowe is launching the brand today, I figured it might be good to post them all!

This post is extremely picture-heavy, so the rest will be after the jump!  :)

OPI Swatch Spam

I've acquired quite a few OPI polishes over the past few months and the photos have just been sitting in a folder, so I figured I'd show them to you all together!  I've got four Euro Centrale shades, two Liquid Sand polishes, and one from last year's Spring/Summer Holland Collection.

This post is super picture-heavy, so read on after the jump!  :)

Watershed

The Castle Season 5 finale is finally here, and I'm probably going to explode because of fangirl feels.   I know I've been super inconsistent with the Castle Mani Monday posts (having done a grand total of five this season... hah) but you can bet I've done one to mark this special day!!  :D

First of all, go listen to this.  GAH.  So many feels.  I can't handle it. 

Source: Here

Since tonight's episode is titled Watershed, I decided to try my first water-colour nail art.  I started with a base of LaCC 1976, and then followed this tutorial by ChrissyAi to get the water-colour effect.

For the splotches, I used (lightest to darkest) Orly Snowcone, Essie Mesmerise, and OPI Eurso Euro.  I sealed it off with one coat of LaCC 2013 top coat, followed by a coat of Seche Vite. 

No major spoilers, but here's a still from the episode.  THE SWINGS.  Virtual high-five to those of you who understand the significance of this. 

Stana Katic as Kate Beckett, Nathan Fillion as Rick Castle

I will spend the next four hours before the episode mentally preparing for the onslaught of Caskett feels.  While in rehearsal.  Okay, maybe that's not such a good idea.  I'm dreading the summer hiatus, BUT whatever happens, at least we got an official announcement for Castle Season 6!!  :D