Fuse Nail Polish: Blurpleberry & Zombie Snot

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm SO looking forward to this weekend, I've got a lot to catch up on.  In the mean time, I've got two polishes from a relatively new indie brand called Fuse Nail Polish to show you! :) 

Liberty & Roses

Today's blog post is just a quick nail art look that I did last week with some of the new polishes I got on our shopping trip in the US last weekend!  :)

I picked up a few of the Zoya Pixie Dust polishes, and I used two coats of Liberty on my index and pinky nails for this mani.  I really love the Pixie Dusts, the texture is much more fine and sparkly than OPI's Liquid Sand polishes!  

My accent nails are wearing a base of OPI My Vampire Is Buff.  The roses started with OPI Can't Find My Czechbook, and I added details with Essie Mesmerise and LaCC 1976; the leaves are LaCC 1968.  

I actually did this exact mani on my mom in shades of purple (with Zoya Stevie) and we both really loved it, which is what spurred me to re-create it in blues!  :) 

CrowsToes SpringTHIS Collection

As I've mentioned at least a few times over my last several posts, life is super busy right now and so on and so forth.  I'm still doing my best to try to post somewhat regularly though.  I've had swatches of the CrowsToes SpringTHIS Collection sitting in a folder for ages; I found them again the other day and was reminded how awesome this collection is!  I figured it was time I share, being in need of a quick post today.  :) 

Moderately picture-heavy, so read on after the jump for more swatches and a review!  

Lacquer Lust: Swatch and Review

Today I've got six awesome polishes from Lacquer Lust to show you!  This post is quite picture-heavy with a couple colour-changing gifs thrown in there (because colour-changing polish gifs are awesome) so read on after the jump!  :)

KKCenterHK Triangle Nail Studs Review

Happy Friday!  Posting will probably be a little sporadic over the next few weeks as I finish everything up for the year, fair warning.  You probably know that I love studs on my nails, so when I was offered the chance to review a product from KKCenterHK, I jumped at the chance to try some of their awesome nail studs!  :)

These studs came in a package of about 50; it's not very many compared to other packages of studs I've got, but if you remove them carefully you can reuse them, (hence why some of mine look a bit scratched up.)

This was actually the second time I wore these studs, the photos from the first time turned out horribly.  This time, I chose to wear them over one coat (yes, only one!) of OPI Honey Ryder.  Because it was a textured polish and top coating over the studs would have ruined the finish of the polish, I used nail glue to attach the studs and left them sans top coat. 

They actually lasted an entire day, much to my surprise!  The first time I wore them, they were attached with top coat and covered in two coats of Seche Vite, and those lasted almost two days before I took them off!  

These studs come flat, and the edges would poke up a lot on my curved nail beds.  To solve this issue and prolong wear time, I simply curved each one over the handle of a nail art brush to fit the curve of my nail prior to applying.  No pokey edges here!  :)

This product can be found on the KKCenterHK website here:  Studs Regular Triangle Silver 5mm Nail Art Decorations.  These studs retail for $5.28USD per package, but you can use the code "globeandnail" to get 10% off your order! (Expires Jan.21st, 2014.)

Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review.  

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

Tough As Nails Lacquer: Come and See Collection

Hi all!  I know I've been slacking on posting lately, I'm just so swamped with finishing up high school and rehearsals for our year-end shows, as well as a steadily-growing pile of polishes to swatch.  I do have a post for you today though, with four beautiful polishes from the Tough As Nails Lacquer "Come and See" collection!  

This collection is inspired by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, how cool is that?? This post is pretty picture-heavy, so I'll put the full review and lots of photos after the jump!  :)

Polish Days: The Number 5

Hi everyone!  This is my second month joining in Polish Days (my first being last month's now-famous sloth nails) and it's a lot of fun, I'll definitely be doing my best to take part every month from now on!  :)

This month's theme is a little more open to interpretation than previous times: the number 5!  As with yesterday's post, I've taken some fancy-pantsy photos of this one (with the help of my sister.) ;)  

Since this is a little picture-heavy, follow the jump to see more photos!

Follow Globe & Nail with Bloglovin

I know I'm a little late to the party, but with the demise of Google Reader quickly approaching on June 1st, I figured it was time to try out this whole Bloglovin thing!  Here's a button (which I've also added to my sidebar) so that you can follow Globe & Nail through Bloglovin.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

If you're not into using Bloglovin, you can also keep up-to-date with my posts by liking my Facebook page here.  :) 

Pastel Polka-Dot Skittles

Today's nail art is a cute and simple spring mani I did last week, but I've got something a little different in store for today's post...

In a sudden fit of artsy-ness, I dragged my sister outside with me to take some cool nail photos, à la Pshiiit or all of those awesome Russian nail bloggers.  There's tons of them, so I'll put the rest after the jump. 

I also took normal photos, but they look so boring next to the rest so you only get one, haha  :P

Shimmer Polish: Part 1

I've got SO many Shimmer Polishes to show you all; this will be the first of probably three posts, all full of glittery Shimmer goodness!  

Let's get right to it, shall we?  More photos are full review after the jump!  :) 

Jelly Stripes

Last week I tried some nail art inspired by a photo that Pam, the creator or Girly Bits, shared on Facebook (here).  While my interpretation didn't turn out exactly as I had planned, I still really liked the result!

The idea is basically a jelly sandwich with nail art, instead of the usual glitter.  I had just picked up OPI Houston We Have A Purple (which I'd been looking for for ages, hooray Winners!) and I figured the sheer jelly would work well for this!  

I started off with two coats of the OPI, and then drew three stripes down each nail with acrylic paint.  Next, I added another coat of the jelly, and drew some more lines in between the previous ones.  I finished it all off with one more coat of the jelly, and a coat of Seche Vite. 

It didn't quite end up looking like the 'buried' nail art I was going for, but I think that the alternating shades of magenta stripes looked quite cool!  

I think I'll try this again sometime, but perhaps with an extra coat of jelly polish between the designs to further separate them.  Either way, I really enjoyed wearing this look!  What do you think?  Is this something you'd try?  :)